1. Carlos Ghosn
Nissan CEO
They said a foreign CEO could never survive the insular culture of Japanese business. Then this quintessential global leader—born in Brazil of Lebanese parents and educated in France—was dispatched by Renault to rescue its stake in Nissan. Ghosn, 47, briskly closed plants, shed workers, hired stylish new auto designers—and took the company from a $5.6 billion loss in 2000 to this year’s $2.5 billion profit. Ghosn’s methods are openly copied, the story of Nissan’s revival is a best seller in Japan, and Ghosn was named that country’s “Father of the Year.”
2. Bill Gates
Microsoft CEO
Bill Gates is worth more than $30 billion, thanks to his 12.3% stake in a resurgent Microsoft, whose Windows operating system dominates the desktop on 90% of the world’s PCs. Gates’ empire extends to Internet access (MSN), television (MSNBC and a stake in cable giant Comcast), computer games (Xbox) and even philanthropy (the $24 billion Gates Foundation). Gates, 46, was slow to recognize the importance of the Internet. But with his ambitious .NET initiative—and diminished pressure from antitrust regulators—the world’s richest man may end up dominating a whole new realm: cyberspace.
STUART RAMSON/AP
3. Steve Case & Jerry Levin
AOL Chairman & AOL CEO
Given the big egos of CEOs, it’s no surprise that when companies merge, one boss usually departs. But since the creation of AOL Time Warner in January 2000, chairman Steve Case, 43, and CEO Jerry Levin, 62, have shown a unity of purpose at odds with the B-school case studies. It helps that they share a vision: subscriptions. Add up AOL, cable TV and magazines, and they have 137 million people mailing in payments. This year the duo clung for too long to profit promises they couldn’t keep. But as they direct Warner Bros., CNN and the Time Inc. magazines, Case and Levin wield unrivaled influence on global culture.
4. Sir John Browne
BP Chairman
Energy executives and environmentalists were like oil and water until Browne, 53, changed the rules of engagement in a 1997 speech announcing a greener direction for British Petroleum. BP now limits its greenhouse-gas emissions and has invested $1 billion in solar-energy technology, becoming the world’s largest photovoltaic manufacturer. At the same time, he has taken BP from near obscurity to the world’s No. 3 oil company, buying competitors like Amoco and inspiring other execs to copy his formula for blending environmentalism and strong earnings.
5. Bob Rubin
Citigroup top executive
His nameplate is gone from the office of the Treasury Secretary, but in some respects, Rubin, 63, never really left. Now a top executive at Citigroup, the man who steered President Clinton through financial crises to the nation’s longest boom gets invited to private meetings of top congressional leaders from which the current Treasury Secretary is excluded. Since Sept. 11, Rubin has helped Congress shape a stimulus package. He even testified alongside Alan Greenspan when the Fed chief delivered his damage assessment to a closed session of the Finance Committee.
6. Sandy Weill
Citigroup CEO
Sandy Weill has a middle initial but no middle name—one of the few things in life that he has to do without. The consummate dealmaker shook the financial world in 1998, when his Travelers Corp.. agreed to buy banking giant Citicorp for $72 billion. In one bold stroke, his financial-services empire, renamed Citigroup, went global, with about 100 million customers in 100 countries. To get the deal done, Weill, 68, persuaded Washington lawmakers to end restrictions that prevented U.S. firms from offering both insurance and commercial banking. That paved the way for U.S.-based global financial conglomerates, which as they evolve have Weill to thank—and Weill to chase.
7. Michael Dell
Dell CEO
In 1984 he declared his intention to unseat IBM as the world’s leading computer maker. It sounded outlandish at the time, but in pursuit of that goal Dell Computer has revolutionized its industry. It bypasses retailers by selling made-to-order computers directly to consumers at low prices, and profits from hyperefficient, just-in-time inventory management. Those innovations helped make Dell the No. 1 computer seller in the world this year. Michael Dell, 36, is raising his sights from PCs to the powerful servers and storage devices that serve businesses. In Dell’s cross hairs: IBM.
8. Meg Whitman
eBay CEO
When a headhunter begged her to interview at a fledgling dotcom, Whitman, then an executive at Hasbro’s preschool division, at first declined. But she reconsidered and within a couple of years turned eBay into the most successful pure Internet company while making herself the first woman Internet billionaire. Whitman, 44, has made eBay—with more merchandise than ever, including $1 billion a year in auto sales and 37 million users worldwide—a truly global marketplace.
9. Li-Ka Shing
Cheung Kong Holdings Chairman
Li Ka-Shing, it’s said, takes a cut from every dollar spent in Hong Kong—and that’s not much of an exaggeration. The ubiquitous entrepreneur started in the plastic-toy business in 1950 and propelled himself into real estate, shipping and telecommunications. His secret? Keep dealing. Even before China took over Hong Kong, Li, 73, was investing on the mainland. Hutchison Whampoa has pushed into the Internet, low-income housing and commercial projects across China. Not surprisingly, Li has the ear of President Jiang Zemin.
10. Rupert Murdoch
News. Corp Chairman
Rupert Murdoch runs News Corp., a $43 billion conglomerate that includes the Fox movie studio and TV network; satellite-TV services in Asia, Europe and Latin America; sports teams such as the Los Angeles Dodgers; and newspapers in Australia, Britain and the U.S. Born in Australia, Murdoch, 70, is equally at home in London and New York City and makes sure his conservative political views are reflected in his media properties. His latest bid for influence: expanding his satellite-TV service in China. Murdoch is also busy positioning his sons to succeed him at the helm of the family business
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