Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg smiles during the f/8 conference in San Francisco in this file photo. AP/Paul Sakuma
Lists of young rising stars are usually crowded with names of singing sensations, incredible athletes and young movie
stars. And while Justin Bieber and LeBron James are both present on this year's list of 30 under 30, they will have to share the limelight with a burgeoning group of similarly rising stars from the realms of high tech, online media and video games such as Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg (28); Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp (26); Mashable founder and CEO Pete Cashmore (27); Airtight Games creative director and creator of the video game Portal Kim Swift (29); CEO of social media company Branch Josh Miller (22); co-founder of online education startup 2U Jeremy Johnson (28); and creator of WordPress Matt Mullenweg (28).
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.