#5 Bobby Kotick

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick seems to make regular appearances on these end of year lists, and for good reason. Even before the mega merger with Vivendi Games, Activision was experiencing year after year after year of revenue growth (16 consecutive years to be exact). The company's been on an upward swing ever since Kotick took over in the early '90s. Despite some stumbles like Tony Hawk: Ride, DJ Hero and an overall decline in the music genre as a whole, 2009 is shaping up to be yet another stellar year for Activision Blizzard. The company beat its Q3 expectations and is forecasting revenues of $4.05 billion for the year, which would easily exceed 2008's $2.9 billion. That's pretty incredible considering the state of the economy and how other publishers are suffering. Activision had the perfect recipe for dominance in 2009: World of Warcraft remains as popular as ever, Guitar Hero was still the fourth best selling franchise in 2009 in terms of dollar sales, and of course Activision benefited from this little game called Modern Warfare 2.