Reed Hastings

Four years into Reed Hastings's bold bet on original content, Netflix is reaping some rewards. Recent hits like Stranger Things and Narcos helped bring quarterly streaming revenues up by a third year over year. About 40% of those revenues came from overseas another big push for the CEO and subscriber numbers have risen to 86 million. Netflix's Emmys (nine this year) don't come cheap; the company has said it will budget $6 billion for content next year, including 1,000 hours of original programming. Hastings recently inked some smart partnerships, including an integration with Comcast's X1 platform, which allows customers to stream Netflix via their cable set-top box. The next goal in the company's plan for world domination? Cracking the Chinese market.