Space cadets Branson and Bezos scoop the 2021 shamelessness prize

Virgin and Amazon bosses do well in our awards for business brass neck, but there are also nods to big oil, big money - and a powerful whiff of Musk

Every Christmas, Observer Business Agenda casts its eye over the year that was, seeking to spotlight the business luminaries whose deeds might otherwise have gone unrecognised. At first glance 2021 looked awfully similar to 2020 - a pandemic, various lockdowns and a new wave of infections to round it all off - but it soon became clear that there were still candidates worthy of special recognition.