The World's Most Influential Companies

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News Corp.

By Ronald Grover

Location: New York
Industry: Media
Annual Sales: $33 billion

The media business looks depressing, unless you're Rupert Murdoch. Even as News Corp.'s assets suffer amid a global recession, Murdoch continues to place big bets, from buying up TV stations in Eastern Europe to turning The Wall Street Journal into an even bigger brand. His critics can be merciless, but his rivals always pay attention. "This is a company that can see around corners," says Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen. "And everyone watches what they do."

With his fearless and sometimes reckless empire-building, Murdoch has changed the game. Objectivity was the stated goal in U.S. news journalism until the boldly partisan Fox News Channel stole share from CNN. Social networking looked like a fad until News Corp. ponied up more than $580 million to buy MySpace.com. China was impenetrable -- until Murdoch penetrated it. And rivals look on with envy as News Corp. has become the dominant force in TV in countries from India to Britain.

High Stakes

Long before "multiplatform" became the mantra of every media baron worth his private jet, Murdoch showed how it was done. News Corp. is both a producer of content -- movies, books, TV shows, and newspapers -- as well as a distributor of it. He has demonstrated that mighty brands such as Britain's BBC can falter if you dare to give people what they want, as BSkyB's satellite service has proved. He is willing to lose staggering amounts of money to build newspapers, such as The New York Post and, now, the Journal, into bigger properties. Opponents call it pride. Murdoch says he's looking for the next big thing. Strike that; he wants to create the next big thing.

Whether Murdoch will fall flat on his face is always a question. Certainly his tendency to bet the farm on new ventures has taken News Corp. to the brink before. But, at 77, he continues to be the pioneer who makes everyone else hold their breath. "We're almost paranoid to any sense of creeping incumbency," says James Murdoch, Rupert's son and chief executive of News Corp.'s European and Asian operations. "We may fail sometimes. But when we see an opportunity, we try to run with it as fast as we can." That could be the expanded Journal or BSkyB's new online subscription service, which other TV companies shied away from for fear of cannibalizing their core businesses. One thing is certain: News Corp. lives to make waves.

Apple

By Peter Burrows

Location: Cupertino, Calif.
Industry: Information Technology
Annual Sales: $24 billion

It's the epitome of cool -- a company that has gained a cultlike following because it somehow manages to breathe new life into every category it touches. From sleek laptops to the even sleeker iPhone, Apple products are imaginative, irreverent, and pleasing to the eye. They're fun to use and have wreaked havoc on competitors. Consider how the iPod and iTunes software created a new business model for the global music industry. CEO Steve Jobs' initial pitch in 2001: Put 1,000 songs in your pocket. Slowing iPod sales are just a sign of how ubiquitous the music player has become.

Now Jobs is shaking up the tech industry again with the iPhone. Apple has sold more than 13 million of them in the past 18 months. Samsung, Research in Motion (creator of the BlackBerry), and LG Electronics have tried to copy its touchscreen-based design while counterfeiters raced to produce knockoffs.

What rivals lack is the App­Store. Instead of just using a smartphone for talking and e-mail, Apple customers can download more than 10,000 applications within seconds on their iPhones. One lets you turn your iPhone into a flute. Other applications enable inventory tracking. Outsiders make them, and Apple keeps 30% of the revenue.

Now companies such as Google, T-Mobile, Microsoft, and RIM are creating AppStores of their own. Good luck. Apple's U.S. partner, AT&T, is basking in the Apple glow. "AT&T used to be seen as this wheezing, oversized telco, but Apple's hipness has rubbed off on it," says tech consultant Paul Saffo.

For Apple, the key has been turning its isolated flashes of brilliance into a science. "They have been astoundingly consistent," says Saffo. Even amid a recession, Jobs is obsessing over new products. And he knows everyone else is obsessing over what he'll do next.

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