Welcome to the annual Philly PI Person of the Year – our flagship end-of-year feature honoring the individual (or occasionally a group) who most profoundly shaped the year’s biggest stories in news, tech, gaming, culture, and global events. Inspired by iconic traditions but with our unfiltered, Philly-tough perspective, we select based on raw influence – for better or worse. No safe consensus picks here: heroes, disruptors, villains, or forces that defined the narrative. Launched in 2015, this is The Philly PI’s signature way to reflect on the year that was.
Selection Criteria
The Philly PI Person of the Year is chosen for maximum consequential impact across our core beats:
- Global news and geopolitics
- Tech, AI, and innovation breakthroughs
- Gaming, entertainment, and cultural shifts
- Controversial stories and bold cultural moments
It’s about who drove the conversation – positively, negatively, or inescapably. Endorsement not required; influence is. We announce the winner mid-December each year, with a full feature article, shortlist of runners-up, and custom cover design.
Latest Announcement
The 2025 Philly PI Person of the Year will be revealed soon – stay tuned!
Past Winners
| Year | Winner Name | Primary Influence / Defining Narrative |
| 2024 | Donald Trump | For his historic election victory, defying media and political consensus, and establishing a new era of protectionist and nationalist policy on the global stage. |
| 2023 | The Open-Source AI Developer | A collective selection honoring the engineers and communities who rejected the centralized control of Big Tech AI, forcing the core technology to be democratized and accelerated. |
| 2022 | Elon Musk | For his purchase and subsequent, controversial upheaval of a major global communications platform (X/Twitter), fundamentally changing the power dynamics of speech, censorship, and information control online. |
| 2021 | Joe Rogan | For establishing himself as the unparalleled king of independent, anti-establishment media, using his massive platform to host controversial figures and drive high-stakes national conversations on public health, politics, and culture, often challenging mainstream narratives. |
| 2020 | The Small Business Owner | A collective selection honoring the entrepreneurs and independent businesses who fought back against sweeping government mandates, shutdowns, and centralized economic control during the pandemic. |
| 2019 | The Hong Kong Protester | A collective selection representing the defiance against centralized state power, highlighting a global struggle for sovereignty and individual liberties against an authoritarian regime. |
| 2018 | The Whistleblower/Citizen Journalist | A collective selection recognizing the individuals who bypassed mainstream media to leak or report on corruption, bias, and institutional overreach, driving the public narrative via independent platforms. |
| 2017 | Tucker Carlson | For his ascent to becoming the most-watched figure in cable news, demonstrating the immense, disruptive power of populist and anti-establishment commentary to define domestic political conversations. |
| 2016 | Nigel Farage | For his tireless, ultimately successful, leadership of the pro-Brexit campaign, fundamentally shattering the European Union project and proving the potent global disruptive force of populist nationalism against liberal globalism. |
| 2015 | Vladimir Putin | For his decisive military interventions (Syria, Ukraine expansion) that permanently challenged Western hegemony, fundamentally shifting the geopolitical balance of power and forcing a return to great-power conflict. |
