The list, made up of 15 categories -- Art & Style, Education, Energy, Finance, Food & Wine, Games & Apps, Hollywood, Law & Policy, Media, Marketing & Advertising, Music, Science & Healthcare, Social Entrepreneurs, Sports and Technology -- is meant to represent "The best creative, intellectual and entrepreneurial energy of an entire generation. These are people that you will be hearing about for a very long time. They exemplify the positive spirit of entrepreneurial capitalism that Forbes has championed for nearly a century," according to the magazine's executive editor, Michael Noer.
But the focus on technology across the list's numerous categories underlines the fact that the technological advances we take for granted as well as the next big thing to come over the horizon are being developed and driven by a younger generation.