They’re smart, they’re accomplished, they run multimillion-dollar enterprises — and oh, yes, they’re young. Some helm technology companies, others lead ­financial firms, others are at the top the health-care game. On these pages, meet the faces of the future. (Move over, Mr. Gates.)

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In business, high IQs and MBAs are just table stakes, and round-the-clock work and undying dedication are a given. That makes our inaugural compilation of the 40 most influential leaders under 40 an especially elite group.

Principal criteria for inclusion were current importance and ascendant trajectory, as well as those crucial intangibles: leadership, professionalism, credibility, reputation and, of course, industry expertise.

The leaders profiled on the pages that follow stand at the helm of every type of business imaginable. To be sure, many faces will be familiar, including Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg (just 23!) and Yahoo’s Jerry Yang (a relative codger at 39). But you’ll also meet some lesser-knowns: Mark Vadon, the 38-year-old executive chairman of Blue Nile, a specialty jeweler in Seattle; and our cover boy, Dave Habiger, 39, the grand poobah of Sonic Solutions, a Novato, California, company that creates the digital-media software that makes CDs and DVDs run.

There’s some gender balance, with two women on the list: 32-year-old Julie Smolyansky, of Lifeway Foods; and Michelle Peluso, 36, president and CEO of Travelocity.

You will be able, no doubt, to make endless arguments on behalf of those who didn’t make the cut, or against some who did; that’s half the fun of an exercise like this. We welcome all feedback. As with any ranking that involves subjective criteria, this is a work in progress, one we intend to hone as we make it an annual rite of passage. One thing, though, is certain: These are people you’ll be hearing about for decades to come.

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