Craig Newmark

Staying small on purpose. Newmark started craigslist as an email list in San Francisco in 1995 and, with chief executive Jim Buckmaster, refused banner adverts, outside investment and a stock market listing, charging only for a few kinds of posting. When eBay bought a minority stake in 2004, craigslist fought it in court until eBay sold out in 2015. The site stayed independent and very profitable, while its free classifieds drained newspapers' revenue.