Smile, you're worth $1.4 trillion

THESE ARE the most powerful people in the world: the 36 men (and one woman) who rule in the information era.

Invited by Vanity Fair to Idaho for a photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz, they are, between them, worth $1.4 trillion (pounds 850 billion), and the majority of the world's citizens depend on their products for work, entertainment or communication.

It is the fourth time the American glossy has profiled what it believes are the world's "infobusiness" leaders, but the first time they have ever posed together. The magazine invited its top 50 to come along for a feature in its current issue. Thirteen didn't make it, presumably because of communication problems.

The conclusions to be drawn from the plutocratic pose-in must be that the world is ruled by men, that they share the dress taste of an American golfing tourist.

KEY

1 Herbert A Allen, president, Allen and Company.

2 Edgar Bronfman Jr, president, Seagram.

3 Howard Stringer, president, Sony (US).

4 Gerald Levin, chairman, Time Warner.

5 Richard Parsons, president, Time Warner.

6 Michael Jordan, chairman, CBS.

7 Jeffrey Katzenberg, partner, Dreamworks SKG.

8 John Malone, chairman TCI.

9 Nathan Myrvold, chief technology officer, Microsoft.

10 Michael Ovitz, chairman, CKE Associates.

11 Jeff Berg, chairman, ICM.

12 Warren Buffet, chairman, Berkshire Hathaway.

13 C Michael Armstrong, chairman, AT&T.

14 Ted Waitt, chairman, Gateway.

15 Ron Meyer, president, Universal.

16 Bob Pittman, president, America Online.

17 James Kennedy, chairman, Cox Enterprises.

18 Nobuyuki Idei, president, Sony.

19 Sumner Redstone, chairman, Viacom Inc.

20 Terry Semei, chairman, Warner Bros.

21 Michael Bloomberg, partner, Bloomberg.

22 Frank Biondi, chairman, Universal.

23 Leo Hindrey Jr, president, TCI.

24 Andrew Grove, chairman, Intel.

25 Stephen Case, chief executive, America Online.

26 Jonathan Dolgen, chairman, Viacom group.

27 Katherine Graham, proprietor, Washington Post.

28 Donald Graham, chief executive, Washington Post.

29 Barry Diller, chairman, USA Networks.

30 David Geffen, partner, Dreamworks SKG.

31 Rupert Murdoch, chairman, Newscorp.

32 Bob Wright, president, NBC.

33 Herbert Seigel, president, Chris-Craft.

34 Gordon Crawford, senior vice-president, Capital Research.

35 Peter Chernin, president, Newscorp.

36 Brian Roberts, president, Comcast.

37 Bill Gates, chairman, Microsoft.