An engineer by training, American by citizenship, New Yorker by birth and attitude, he has lived much of his life in Asia and Europe.

FORBES: Understanding The Engine Of Innovation: 'The Idea Hunter'

The arrest on October 4th of Yang Bin, who is Chinese by birth but Dutch by citizenship and was recently nominated to run a fledgling enterprise zone in North Korea (see article), shows what can happen to those who lack official protection in China.

ECONOMIST: Holding back China's private firms holds back China too

Welsh by birth, American by citizenship, he took over Japan's most admired company in 2005, when it was in serious trouble, and turned it around in the face of immense cultural obstacles.

ECONOMIST: Where the influential people meet and talk