'Time' Names Eight Finalists for 2014 'Person of the Year'

Taylor Swift

Time magazine named its eight finalists yesterday (December 8th) for 2014's Person of the Year, with their final choice for the annual selection to be revealed on Wednesday.

• The Ferguson protesters -- Who took to the streets after Michael Brown's killing in August, and after the grand jury declined to indict police officer Darren Wilson in November
• The Ebola caregivers in West Africa
• Russian President Vladimir Putin -- Has been in the headlines all year, from his country's hosting of the Sochi Olympics, to its annexation of Crimea, to its role in the separatist unrest in eastern Ukraine.
• Taylor Swift -- One of the world's top-selling pop artists who shook up the music business by pulling her music from Spotify.
• Jack Ma -- Founder and CEO of Alibaba, China's e-commerce giant, which debuted with a $25 billion IPO.
• Tim Cook -- Apple's CEO, who introduced the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, the Apple Watch and Apple Pay this year, and came out as the first openly gay Fortune 500 CEO
• Masoud Barzani -- "Acting president of the Iraqi Kurdish Region since 2005, who has deftly threaded the region's push for independence with the ongoing fight against" ISIS.
• NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell -- His leadership has been under scrutiny as the league has dealt this year with domestic abuse by players including Ray Rice, as well as other controversies.