Who: Vikram Pandit, Citigroup CEO

How he fiercely influenced finance: The Citigroup CEO who pledged to earn $1 per year with no bonus until the bank returned profitability, was named Banker of the Year for 2010 by Euromoney. "For a man who was supposedly doomed to fail, Vikram Pandit has done a pretty good job in transforming Citigroup," stated the magazine.

Pandit's success in restoring the bailed-out bank is evidenced by the government's plan to exit its 27 percent stake in Citi by the end of this year. The bank is a remarkably different business than it was two years ago, notes Euromoney, shifting bets in favor of Pandit.

"I think the guy has done a phenomenal job," analyst Richard Bove told Fortune. "He walked into a company that had a decade of mismanagement behind it." And Pandit changed the bank's culture and structure and found business opportunities that could turn a profit, he added.

Financial commentator James Cramer has also been singing Pandit's praises, calling his firm the "the most undervalued bank in America." According to Seeking Alpha, Cramer said to buy Citi stock and stick with Vikram Pandit.

What's next: Pandit has spent the past few weeks arguing against Basel III, saying the regulations will actually bring about the next big bubble. The Basel rules "create new incentives to rebuild some of the worst features of the very environment that led to the crisis," he told TheStreet.com last month.