From CEOs to politicians: The big names behind the biggest stories

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An auto maker faltered while a taxi service thrived. E-commerce reaped billions while plummeting oil prices sapped much larger sums from government coffers. After another eventful year, James Bradshaw looks at some of the personalities who dominated the headlines in 2014.

Bill Ackman, founder Pershing Square

Mr. Ackman's high-stakes takeover play for pharmaceutical company Allergan Inc. may have failed, but it still worked out very nicely for him.

An ambitious partnership between Mr. Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management and Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. was both an attempted hostile takeover and a proxy battle aimed at acquiring Allergan, which ultimately sold instead to Actavis PLC in a friendly $66-billion (U.S.) acquisition. It involved months of legal skirmishes, bitter public statements, and accusations of insider trading.

Don't shed any tears for the losing bidders, though. Pershing stands to net more than $2-billion from the investment it made to acquire a 9.7-per-cent stake in Allergan, while Valeant will walk away with nearly $400-million, according to a securities filing.

Mary Barra, CEO General Motors Co.

Appointing Mary Barra as chief executive officer was supposed to turn a page at GM as it climbed its way back from a 2009 bankruptcy – she was the first woman to lead a major auto maker, with 33 years of experience at the company.

But before long, she was playing the role of crisis manager. Defects in the company's vehicles, including ignition switches, were linked to 23 deaths and required millions of cars to be recalled. She was grilled by U.S. senators on Capitol Hill and GM could now face paying hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation to killed or injured drivers.

Now, she is trying to reboot once again, seeking to "really talk about the future of the company," she told reporters in October.

John Chen, CEO, BlackBerry Ltd.

BlackBerry's performance since John Chen arrived little more than a year ago has been unremarkable – and that was enough to push him into the headlines.

The once-dominant smartphone maker had been in free fall for some time, losing market share and popularity to the likes of Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Mr. Chen's measured turnaround has calmed fleeing investors considerably. And the company's most recent product launches included a dose of the old – a remake of a "Classic" device – and a refreshingly new shape for the Passport.

But Mr. Chen has preached patience with BlackBerry's larger transition: "We're not about phones this time – we're about software," he said last month.

Travis Kalanick, CEO, Uber

The company turning the taxi business on its head is now valued at about $40-billion (U.S.), but Uber's ride has not always been smooth.

Mr. Kalanick's tendency to expand his ride-sharing app first and worry about regulatory questions later has ruffled feathers, and cities are starting to push back. City of Toronto officials have applied for an injunction to halt Uber's operations, while four Vancouver taxi companies have sought a similar order to keep Uber from coming to town. The service has been banned in Thailand, Spain, the Netherlands, and other jurisdictions around the world.

Even some goodwill from the app's devoted users has begun to dry up after bad press over the company's privacy policies and one executive's controversial musings about hiring researchers to dig up dirt on critical journalists. Mr. Kalanick and his deputies have responded with pledges to be "more humble."

Guy Laurence, president and CEO, Rogers Communications Inc.

The new boss of one of Canada's communications and media giants kept quiet through his first few months on the job. But in late May, the newcomer from Britain shook up the senior ranks at Rogers, promising better customer service and a steady return to growth.

Since then, he's been in a feisty mood. He pushed every corner of the company to get involved in the company's $5.2-billion acquisition of NHL hockey rights. When rival BCE Inc. (which owns 15 per cent of The Globe and Mail) complained that Rogers was keeping some Web-based features exclusive, he called it "cry baby Bell."

He was a driving force behind the new video streaming service Shomi, and a regular fixture at media events – including a profanity-laced press conference unveiling a $100-million (Canadian) joint venture with anti-establishment Vice Media, where he arrived wearing leather.

Jack Ma, founder, executive chairman, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

In September, the self-made Chinese entrepreneur vaulted into the ranks of the world's tycoons by leading Alibaba's $25-billion (U.S.) IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest to date.

But the company's pay day was born in the massive untapped potential of China's insular Internet culture, which Mr. Ma tapped by deftly growing his business while staying onside with the country's leaders, opening e-commerce to 500 million Chinese users and the wider world.

Mr. Ma's ambition was on display when he met Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Hangzhou on a November trade mission and boasted his company wanted to sell 200,000 Canadian lobsters – in a single day.

Jim Prentice, Alberta Premier

What a difference a few weeks makes.

Jim Prentice seemed to have the wind at his back, having left his job as vice-chairman of CIBC and capitalized on former Alberta premier Alison Redford's resignation to launch himself back into politics at the head of one of Canada's most prosperous provinces. His government was heading back to surplus, he said.

Then came December's plunging oil prices, which punched holes in the budget projections for resource-dependent Alberta.

Mr. Prentice's Progressive Conservatives solidified their hold on power this month, securing a mass defection from the opposition Wildrose party. But none of the floor-crossing MLAs can bring back the billions in potential revenue that has evaporated.

Vladimir Putin, Russian President

After a year of flexing Russia's muscles for all the world to see, Vladimir Putin enters 2015 looking weakened.

He has talked often about restoring Russia's glory. He ordered the invasion and annexation of the Crimea region and, after disputes with neighbouring Ukraine over gas, Russia broke ground on a massive pipeline to China, promising to deliver four trillion cubic metres of gas over the next three decades.

Yet, the economy – long seen as Putin's trump card – has faltered under pressure from international sanctions and diminished oil prices. And as the ruble's value struggled near historic lows, and Russians emptied store shelves, Mr. Putin was left grumbling about a supposed Western plot to put the Russian bear "on a chain."

With files from wire services.