1. Peter Moore
Microsoft



We expect our business leaders to display creativity, fiscal acumen, guts and a touch of charisma. But most of all we expect them to deliver. Peter Moore has delivered. That's why he's number one. Xbox 360 has sold as close as needs be to five million consoles in North America in the past 12 months. The best next generation games, currently, are Xbox 360 games. Xbox Live is the most advanced and user-friendly online service. Microsoft has an impressive relationship with publishers and with the media. All this has been achieved by hard graft and smart bets against a backdrop of Microsoft’s absolute need to turn a profit in this business, sooner rather than later. The endless trips to Japan to try to make that business work display his capability for hard work, even in the face of seemingly impossible odds. But there is yet more work to be done, and not just in Japan. Microsoft faces a tough year in 2007 as it attempts to hold onto its leadership position while moving into the mass market. But in 2006, his efforts to woo consumers through third party publishing deals and through a savvy media presence makes Moore our pick as Next-Gen’s 2006 Person of the Year.