T H E T O P 1OO
DY S O N
D9 is the gleaming cornerstone of Dyson’s ongoing efforts to lure engineers straight out of college to work for him at the company’s headquarters near Malmesbury, an ancient market town of 5,400 two hours west of London. The average age of his engineers is 26 (he has 3,000 worldwide and wants to hire another 3,000 by 2020), and their youth is no accident. “The enthusiasm and lack of fear is important,” Dyson says. “Not taking notice of experts and plowing on because you believe in something is important. It’s much easier to do when you’re young.” Dyson’s own fearlessness enables him to constantly test new products, although
RANK
COMPANY
INDUSTRY / COUNTRY
INNOVATION PREMIUM
20 VERISK ANALYTICS
59.47
RESEARCH & CONSULTING SERVICES/U.S.
21 AMOREPACIFIC
59.14
PERSONAL PRODUCTS/S. KOR
22 COLOPLAST
57.48
HEALTH CARE SUPPLIES/DNK
BEST FACE FORWARD Amorepacific got its start selling camellia oil in the 1930s. The company generated $5.2 billion in revenue last year, cashing in on the worldwide Korean skin-care craze.
23 MARRIOTT INTL
56.53
HOTELS, RESORTS & CRUISE LINES/U.S.
24 ILLUMINA
55.98
LIFE SCIENCES TOOLS & SERVICES/U.S.
25 RED HAT
55.87
SYSTEMS SOFTWARE/U.S.
“We’re battling the status quo. We still feel small, agile, pioneering.”
106 | FORBES
SEPTEMBER 13, 2016
55.63
HEALTH CARE DISTRIBUTORS/U.S.
27 VISA
55.52
DATA PROCESSING & OUTSOURCED SERVICES/U.S.
28 SYSMEX
54.44
HEALTH CARE EQUIPMENT/JPN MOVING MARKETS The New York Stock Exchange uses Red Hat’s software to power its trades.
29 BAIDU
54.24
INTERNET SOFTWARE & SERVICES/CHN
30 MASTERCARD
54.03
DATA PROCESSING & OUTSOURCED SERVICES/U.S.
31 HINDUSTAN UNILEVER
53.99
HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS/IND
32 HERMES 53.68 APPAREL, ACCESSORIES & LUXURY GOODS/FRA PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC PIONEER In the 1980s MasterCard became the first payment card introduced in China.
33 TRANSDIGM GROUP
52.11
AEROSPACE & DEFENSE/U.S.
34 PERRIGO PHARMACEUTICALS/IRE
51.97
RED HAT: SANKARSHAN MUKHOPADHYAY; MASTERCARD: IMAGINECHINA/SPLASH NEWS/NEWSCOM
his perfectionism often gets in the way of releasing them. He is best known for creating the first bagless vacuum cleaner three decades ago, and his company still gets 70% of its sales from vacuum cleaners, many of which are now lightweight, handheld and battery-operated. But Dyson has also had hits with the Airblade hand dryer; the Dyson humidifier; and the Pure Cool Link, a fan that doubles as an air purifier. The latest wonder from his workshop is the Supersonic blow-dryer. Dyson spent $71 million (and went through 1,000 miles of human hair) developing the $400 device, which is supposed to eliminate heat damage and cut down on uncontrollable flyaways. It launched in Japan in April and comes to the U.S. any day now. Dyson is hoping that all those new engineers he is hiring will accelerate the company’s pace of innovation: Dyson is planning to invest hundreds of millions of dol-
26 AMERISOURCEBERGEN