Overview
- Forbes unveiled its living Innovator 250 on Feb. 11 and a Historic Innovator 250 on Feb. 12 as the opening salvo of its Forbes 250 initiative tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary.
- Elon Musk leads the living list, followed by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, with George Lucas, Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Phil Knight, Martine Rothblatt, Ted Turner and Vinod Khosla completing the top 10.
- Selections drew from newsroom nominations and a named external judging panel, with ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini providing additional assessments before editors set the final rankings.
- Forbes emphasizes that every living honoree is an American citizen and that more than one‑third of the list comprises women and people of color.
- Next steps include a spring convening of honorees in Silicon Valley, partnerships with America250’s America Innovates expo, and interviews with list makers at the HP Garage.