Tonight marks the celebration of Fortune magazine’s annual “40 Under 40” issue, which appeared on newsstands yesterday. In anticipation of the event, Leigh Gallagher, Fortune‘s assistant managing editor, gave us a little insight into what, exactly, goes into the making of such a list…

It’s a really fun and exciting process because each year new people emerge — and obviously many people turn 40 and become ineligible, so the list has a natural churn. People always ask me what it “takes” to get on the list. It’s a combination of size, scope and relevance of the business a person runs; his or her power, influence and reputation both in his or her industry and beyond; and his or her potential as a future leader.

We always want a list that’s reflective of the broader business landscape in general, but inevitably we end up with a heavy representation from the tech sector simply because that happens to be where a lot of young ambitious people have been heading in recent years. One of the most interesting aspects of this list is the sense of discovery it offers across all industries.

The issue of women on this list is a tough one. Every year we shake the trees really hard to make sure we’re not missing anyone obvious, but every year there are far fewer women than men. I’ve talked to a lot of people about why this might be the case. Much of it has to do with the fact that women who want to have families tend to leave the workforce temporarily precisely around the time they’d appear on this list. If you look at the list of powerful women in their 40s in business there are many more of them and Fortune highlighted many women in the business world during the Most Powerful Women Summit in DC earlier this month.

It’s not intentional in the least. But when you look at what Sergey Brin and Larry Page have done it’s hard to put them anywhere except the top five. And few can argue with the power, size, scope and influence of Facebook right now. But if you look at someone like Raul Vazquez — he controls a third of Wal-mart’s $258 billion U.S business — he belongs right where he is on this list, at number four. I’d love for us to have a year in which the top five are brand new names. That would mean we’d have found the five best stories in business.

This list is important for several reasons. One, it shows us that in the face of these incredibly challenged economic times, there are still amazing growth stories out there, and that the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit that drives business is still very much alive and thriving. Two, it identifies leaders of tomorrow. In only the second year of its current iteration, the list is too young for us to identify how many future big-company CEOs we’ve spotted, but it’s worth keeping tabs on these people. Third, it’s just really entertaining reading. But I’m biased.

We’re only a couple of weeks away from 2010, and that means it’s time for every publication still in existence to start doing a “Best Of The Decade” list like its VH1′s entire programming line-up.

Lists are great because they are fun, subjective, and get people talking. We’ve seen Time magazine take that idea to heart in its recent issue, and today AdWeek has rolled out a slew of decade-spanning “Best Of” lists that are sure to get some media executives primping their feathers…and others grinding their teeth.

As the editors said in their foreword, the winners this year “weren’t all 21-year-old whiz kids,” which is a relief from what we heard a decade ago when talking about Internet branding and marketing. The Media Company of the Decade award was a no-brainer; the title went to Google for its “game-changing, pay-per-click ad model” which “helped pull the left-for-dead online advertising business out of the post-Web 1.0 recession.” Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google also won the Web Entrepreneurs of the Year award.

More of Adweek‘s “Bests” after the jump

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Fortune magazine has revealed its “40 Under 40″ list — a compilation of the youngest and the brightest minds in the business world. And we were pleased to see a number of media executives making the cut and ranking near the top. Our industry could use all the young blood and new ideas it can get right now.

Topping the list are Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page — tied for first. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is number two.

And coming in at number three is the first media mogul, News Corp. heir James Murdoch (above). Rupert Murdoch’s youngest son, James currently serves as chairman and CEO for News Corp.’s operations in Europe and Asia. Fun fact: he raised his desk so he can work standing up. So the key to rising to the top of an international media conglomerate by age 36 is never sitting down. We bet being the son of a media czar helps, too.

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Considering Martin’s report included a line about Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin googling each other “not in a gay way, or, I don’t know, maybe,” we’re surprised it even made it this far.

[NOTE: See the clip here.]

EARLIER:

A reworked scene from 2000′s American Psycho:

Patrick Bateman: New card. What do you think? Picked them up from the printer’s yesterday.

Sergey Brin: Good coloring.

Bateman: That’s Bone. And the lettering is something called Silian Rail.

Brin: It’s very cool, Bateman, but that’s nothing. Look at this.

Bateman: That is really nice.

Brin: Eggshell with Romalian type. What do you think?

Bateman: Nice.

Larry Page: Jesus. That is really super. How’da nitwit like you get so tasteful?

Bateman: I can’t believe that Larry prefers Sergey Brin‘s card to mine.

Page: But wait. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Raised lettering, pale nimbus … white.

Bateman: Impressive. Very nice. Let’s see Eric Schmidt‘s card.

[card thrown on table]

Bateman: Look at that subtle off-white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh, my God. It even has a watermark … Wait a minute. Is “chairman” mispelled? Jesus.