Business 2.0: Morhaime Matters, Ballmer Doesn't

CNN/Money has reprinted Business 2.0's lists of 50 people who matter now in business and 10 people who don't. The lists attempt to highlight personalities who are having a large impact on business today, rather than crediting people for past accomplishments. Execs from games-related companies make an appearance on both lists. Not surprisingly, Microsoft gets two nods in the "who matters" list, with chief technical Ray Ozzie sliding in at the bottom of the top 10, and chairman Bill Gates clocking in at #21. Interestingly, Gates is cited for his work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation rather than with Microsoft, having surpassed the World Health Organization as the top source of global funding for health issues. Finally, Blizzard co-founder and president Mike Morhaime makes the list at #46. It is unusual for figures on the development side of games to be included in these sorts of lists, but then again it is also unusual for a massively multiplayer game to achieve 6.5 million paying subscribers. Games also made an appearance on the other end of the spectrum, where Business 2.0 notes, "not everyone with a fancy title really counts." Again from Microsoft, enthusiastic CEO Steve Ballmer was present and described as a "lame duck." Also present was PlayStation boss Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment. Business 2.0 seems to point to Kutaragi as a factor in PlayStation 3 being "months late and hundreds of dollars more expensive than competing consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo."