Adobe

Adobe’s epic transition to a cloud-based, subscription business model continues to pay off, with the Photoshop-maker’s stock having risen 65% in the past year. Now the company is on to its next big bet to satisfy Wall Street’s appetite for growth: applying data crunching and analytical tools to marketing. In September, Adobe said it would buy marketing specialist Marketo for $4.75 billion; in June, it completed its $1.68 billion acquisition of Magento Commerce, which it plans to fold into its digital analytics business. It’s a multibillion-­dollar plan to become a giant in a fast-growing, potentially lucrative field—though it’s one in which it faces stiff competition from established tech giants like Oracle, SAP, and fellow Future 50 member Salesforce.