Power is an elusive concept. It is defined as “the ability or right to control people, companies or the industry.” But power and influence can exist even when they are not exercised.

The concept is not simple or straightforward, so you can just imagine the healthy debate involved in creating the Swanepoel Power 200 (SP200) each year. But we can agree that power is not a popularity contest. It is not based on a single statistic such as head count, office count or revenue. And it is never “pay to play.”