Time 100

The Time 100 is a list published by the American news magazine Time of the 100 most influential people in the world. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, politicians, and journalists, the list is now a highly publicized annual event. It is generally considered an honor to be included on the list, but, much like the magazine's Person of the Year, Time makes it clear that entrants are recognized for changing the world, regardless of the consequences of their actions. The final list of influential individuals is exclusively chosen by Time editors, with nominations coming from the Time 100 alumni and the magazine's international writing staff. Only the winner of the Reader's Poll, conducted days before the official list is revealed, is chosen by the general public. The corresponding commemorative gala is held annually in Manhattan, and has emerged as one of the world's most celebrated galas as well as high fashion events.

In 2019, Time began publishing the Time 100 Next list, which "spotlights 100 rising stars who are shaping the future of business, entertainment, sports, politics, science, health and more".

In 2000, Time's editors identified "three rather distinct qualities" when choosing people to be listed. Time's editor-at-large Michael Elliott wrote:

First there were those who came to their status by means of a very public possession of power. President George W. Bush is the pre-eminent example others, though they are rarely heard from in public, nonetheless have a real influence on the great events of our time. Think of Ali Husaini Sistani, the Grand Ayatullah of Iraq's Shi'ites, who in effect has a veto on plans to transfer power from those who occupy his country to its people. Still others affect our lives through their moral example. Consider Nelson Mandela's forgiveness of his captors and his willingness to walk away from the South African presidency after a single term.

For the 2007 list, managing editor Richard Stengel clarified that the Time 100 focused on the most influential people rather than the hottest, most popular, or most powerful people. He said:

Influence is hard to measure, and what we look for is people whose ideas, whose example, whose talent, whose discoveries transform the world we live in. Influence is less about the hard power of force than the soft power of ideas and example. Yes, there are Presidents and dictators who can change the world through fiat, but we're more interested in innovators like Monty Jones, the Sierra Leone scientist who has developed a strain of rice that can save African agriculture. Or heroes like the great chess master Garry Kasparov, who is leading the lonely fight for greater democracy in Russia. Or Academy Award-winning actor George Clooney who has leveraged his celebrity to bring attention to the tragedy in Darfur.

From 2005 to 2008, Time magazine awarded one of Darko Mladenovic's Ray crystal sculptures to each Time 100 honoree. These sculptures were produced by Swarovski.

In 2009, the winner of the online poll was 4chan founder Christopher Poole, who received 16,794,368 votes. Time claimed that their technical team "did detect and extinguish several attempts to hack the vote". However, it was shown weeks before the poll ended that the results had been heavily influenced by hackers. The first letters of the top 21 names spell out "marblecake also the game". Marblecake was an obscene 4chan meme, and #marblecake was the name of the Internet Relay Chat channel used for communication by some of the participants in rigging the poll.