Top 25: Influential business leaders
Internet, computer fields dominate entries
(CNN) -- Over the past 25 years, technology was the industry of choice for many of the top business people, according to a panel of experts CNN gathered to rank the top 25 business leaders of the past quarter-century.
Jeff Bezos, CEO and chairman of Amazon.com, ranked No. 17 on the list compiled by Fortune Magazine writers. He founded Amazon.com in 1994 when many had never even heard of the Internet, and fewer saw its business potential.
"If all Bezos had done was start a store on the Internet, he probably would have been forgotten about when the dot-com crash came," says Daniel Roth with Fortune magazine.
"Bezos' particular genius was realizing that logistics and warehousing and incredibly powerful software that would help him with shipping was what was going to set Amazon apart from the competition," he says.
Other entrepreneurs who capitalized on the Internet include Jim Clark (No. 15), former CEO of Netscape; Shawn Fanning (No. 24), founder of Napster; and Meg Whitman (No. 16), CEO of eBay and the world's first woman Internet billionaire.
Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel, which manufactures the Pentium chip, is No. 11 on the list. Lou Gerstner (No. 25), former CEO of IBM, changed the company on the verge of a break-up into a money-maker with its reputation and stock at record highs.
Steve Jobs (No. 6), co-founder and CEO of Apple Computer, and Michael Dell (No. 8), founder of Dell Computers, helped introduce the computer to the mainstream consumer, effectively changing the way the world communicates and does business.
Transforming the American company
But innovative and strong business leadership was not found solely in cyberspace or in hard drives.
Leaders like Jack Welch (No. 3), former CEO of General Electric; Lee Iacocca (No. 5), former CEO of Chrysler; and Herb Kelleher (No. 7), chairman of Southwest Airlines, all used strong, decisive business strategies to build and strengthen their companies.
The late Sam Walton (No. 2), founder and CEO of Wal-Mart, changed the business of retailing, using new systems for inventory control and becoming one of the first CEOs to offer profit sharing to his employees. He went from owning one department store in Newport, Arkansas, to presiding over the largest retailer in the world.
Two news leaders made headlines in the world of commerce: Ted Turner (No. 14), founder of CNN and a philanthropist, and Katharine Graham (No. 21), the late CEO of the Washington Post Co. While both of their companies can point to accomplished journalism, it is their business know-how that landed each of them on this list.
Damage to American capitalism
While most business leaders made our list because of their accomplishments, former junk bond wizard Michael Milken (No.12) and former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay (No. 23) made the list, in part, because of the changes to the business landscape that resulted in the wake of scandals associated with them.
In the 1980s Milken's personal wealth was legendary. He transformed corporate takeover and financing by using high-yield junk bonds (bonds issued by a company that is considered to be a higher credit risk), but it all came crashing down in 1989 when a federal grand jury indicted Milken for violations of federal securities and racketeering laws.
After pleading guilty to securities fraud and other charges (the government later dropped the insider trading and racketeering charges), Milken was fined and sentenced to prison for 10 years; in 1991 his sentence was reduced to two years plus three years probation.
"[Milken's] legacy is a mixed one," says Fortune magazine writer Jerry Useem.
"On the one hand, it did tremendous damage to American capitalism. On the other hand, it did promote the notion that managers were answerable to someone, and if they weren't doing their job, if they weren't trying to make the company more valuable, they might be out of a job," he says.
Another leader who taught us lessons in accountability is Lay, the former Enron CEO.
Lay's energy trading company collapsed in December 2001 and filed for bankruptcy protection after investigators found it had used partnerships to conceal more than $1 billion in debt and inflated profits. More than 4,000 workers were out on the street and many more lost or had reduced retirement savings. This corporate scandal led to congressional hearings that started a drumbeat for reform of accounting and finance rules.
Great innovators
Leaders like Warren Buffett (No. 4), CEO of Berkshire Hathaway; chairman of the Federal Reserve Board Alan Greenspan (No. 9) and business consultant W. Edwards Deming (No. 22) changed the ways we do business.
Buffett has become the most successful investor in the world by sinking his money into undervalued companies with low overhead costs, high growth potential, strong market shares and low price-to-earnings ratios.
"There's no one else that has the track record that Warren Buffett does," Useem says. "In a way, he's the opposite of the get-rich-quick schemer. And, ironically, that's made him the second richest man in the world."
Although Greenspan doesn't run a company, he is a large influence on the corporate world and changes in the industry. He has a large part in directing U.S. national monetary policy.
Deming, using his theories of management and quality control, helped turn Japan into a manufacturing powerhouse.
Phil Knight (No. 20), CEO of Nike, has led the company to become the largest athletic shoe and clothing company in the world, using shrewd marketing and celebrity endorsements.
Disney CEO Michael Eisner (No. 18) took a company practically on its deathbed, and turned it into a media powerhouse. Last February, Eisner weathered a hostile takeover attempt, but a month later was stripped of his chairmanship following a 45 percent no-confidence vote by shareholders.
Others on our list such as Peter Lynch (No. 19), manager of Fidelity's Magellan Fund; John Reed (No. 13), former CEO of Citigroup; and corporate raider Carl Icahn (No. 10) made inroads into how we look at business.
By following his mantra of picking stocks based on main street trends not Wall Street, Lynch guided the Magellan Fund to unprecedented growth. Reed, meanwhile, was instrumental in the rise of the ATM and credit card.
Icahn is a master at seeing the value of companies others had overlooked. Last year, he made $250 million on ImClone shares he bought the day Martha Stewart sold hers, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In the coming days, CNN will announce the business leader chosen as the most influential on the way the world does business in the last 25 years. Be sure to log on and find out who ranks No. 1.
Top 25 in business
2. Sam Walton, former CEO of Wal-Mart
3. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric
4. Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
5. Lee Iacocca, former CEO of Chrysler
6. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple
7. Herb Kelleher, chairman of Southwest Airlines
8. Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computer
9. Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve
10. Carl Icahn, 1980s corporate raider
11. Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel
12. Michael Milken, former junk-bond wizard
13. John Reed, former CEO of Citigroup
14. Ted Turner, founder of CNN
15. Jim Clark, former CEO of Netscape
16. Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay
17. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com
18. Michael Eisner, CEO of Disney
19. Peter Lynch, manager of Fidelity's Magellan Fund
20. Phil Knight, CEO of Nike
21. Katharine Graham, late CEO of Washington Post Co.
22. W. Edwards Deming, influential business consultant
23. Ken Lay, notorious former CEO of Enron
24. Shawn Fanning, founder of Napster
25. Lou Gerstner, former CEO of IBM
Internet, computer fields dominate entries
(CNN) -- Over the past 25 years, technology was the industry of choice for many of the top business people, according to a panel of experts CNN gathered to rank the top 25 business leaders of the past quarter-century.
Jeff Bezos, CEO and chairman of Amazon.com, ranked No. 17 on the list compiled by Fortune Magazine writers. He founded Amazon.com in 1994 when many had never even heard of the Internet, and fewer saw its business potential.
"If all Bezos had done was start a store on the Internet, he probably would have been forgotten about when the dot-com crash came," says Daniel Roth with Fortune magazine.
"Bezos' particular genius was realizing that logistics and warehousing and incredibly powerful software that would help him with shipping was what was going to set Amazon apart from the competition," he says.
Other entrepreneurs who capitalized on the Internet include Jim Clark (No. 15), former CEO of Netscape; Shawn Fanning (No. 24), founder of Napster; and Meg Whitman (No. 16), CEO of eBay and the world's first woman Internet billionaire.
Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel, which manufactures the Pentium chip, is No. 11 on the list. Lou Gerstner (No. 25), former CEO of IBM, changed the company on the verge of a break-up into a money-maker with its reputation and stock at record highs.
Steve Jobs (No. 6), co-founder and CEO of Apple Computer, and Michael Dell (No. 8), founder of Dell Computers, helped introduce the computer to the mainstream consumer, effectively changing the way the world communicates and does business.
Transforming the American company
But innovative and strong business leadership was not found solely in cyberspace or in hard drives.
Leaders like Jack Welch (No. 3), former CEO of General Electric; Lee Iacocca (No. 5), former CEO of Chrysler; and Herb Kelleher (No. 7), chairman of Southwest Airlines, all used strong, decisive business strategies to build and strengthen their companies.
The late Sam Walton (No. 2), founder and CEO of Wal-Mart, changed the business of retailing, using new systems for inventory control and becoming one of the first CEOs to offer profit sharing to his employees. He went from owning one department store in Newport, Arkansas, to presiding over the largest retailer in the world.
Two news leaders made headlines in the world of commerce: Ted Turner (No. 14), founder of CNN and a philanthropist, and Katharine Graham (No. 21), the late CEO of the Washington Post Co. While both of their companies can point to accomplished journalism, it is their business know-how that landed each of them on this list.
Damage to American capitalism
While most business leaders made our list because of their accomplishments, former junk bond wizard Michael Milken (No.12) and former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay (No. 23) made the list, in part, because of the changes to the business landscape that resulted in the wake of scandals associated with them.
In the 1980s Milken's personal wealth was legendary. He transformed corporate takeover and financing by using high-yield junk bonds (bonds issued by a company that is considered to be a higher credit risk), but it all came crashing down in 1989 when a federal grand jury indicted Milken for violations of federal securities and racketeering laws.
After pleading guilty to securities fraud and other charges (the government later dropped the insider trading and racketeering charges), Milken was fined and sentenced to prison for 10 years; in 1991 his sentence was reduced to two years plus three years probation.
"[Milken's] legacy is a mixed one," says Fortune magazine writer Jerry Useem.
"On the one hand, it did tremendous damage to American capitalism. On the other hand, it did promote the notion that managers were answerable to someone, and if they weren't doing their job, if they weren't trying to make the company more valuable, they might be out of a job," he says.
Another leader who taught us lessons in accountability is Lay, the former Enron CEO.
Lay's energy trading company collapsed in December 2001 and filed for bankruptcy protection after investigators found it had used partnerships to conceal more than $1 billion in debt and inflated profits. More than 4,000 workers were out on the street and many more lost or had reduced retirement savings. This corporate scandal led to congressional hearings that started a drumbeat for reform of accounting and finance rules.
Great innovators
Leaders like Warren Buffett (No. 4), CEO of Berkshire Hathaway; chairman of the Federal Reserve Board Alan Greenspan (No. 9) and business consultant W. Edwards Deming (No. 22) changed the ways we do business.
Buffett has become the most successful investor in the world by sinking his money into undervalued companies with low overhead costs, high growth potential, strong market shares and low price-to-earnings ratios.
"There's no one else that has the track record that Warren Buffett does," Useem says. "In a way, he's the opposite of the get-rich-quick schemer. And, ironically, that's made him the second richest man in the world."
Although Greenspan doesn't run a company, he is a large influence on the corporate world and changes in the industry. He has a large part in directing U.S. national monetary policy.
Deming, using his theories of management and quality control, helped turn Japan into a manufacturing powerhouse.
Phil Knight (No. 20), CEO of Nike, has led the company to become the largest athletic shoe and clothing company in the world, using shrewd marketing and celebrity endorsements.
Disney CEO Michael Eisner (No. 18) took a company practically on its deathbed, and turned it into a media powerhouse. Last February, Eisner weathered a hostile takeover attempt, but a month later was stripped of his chairmanship following a 45 percent no-confidence vote by shareholders.
Others on our list such as Peter Lynch (No. 19), manager of Fidelity's Magellan Fund; John Reed (No. 13), former CEO of Citigroup; and corporate raider Carl Icahn (No. 10) made inroads into how we look at business.
By following his mantra of picking stocks based on main street trends not Wall Street, Lynch guided the Magellan Fund to unprecedented growth. Reed, meanwhile, was instrumental in the rise of the ATM and credit card.
Icahn is a master at seeing the value of companies others had overlooked. Last year, he made $250 million on ImClone shares he bought the day Martha Stewart sold hers, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In the coming days, CNN will announce the business leader chosen as the most influential on the way the world does business in the last 25 years. Be sure to log on and find out who ranks No. 1.
Top 25 in business
2. Sam Walton, former CEO of Wal-Mart
3. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric
4. Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
5. Lee Iacocca, former CEO of Chrysler
6. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple
7. Herb Kelleher, chairman of Southwest Airlines
8. Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computer
9. Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve
10. Carl Icahn, 1980s corporate raider
11. Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel
12. Michael Milken, former junk-bond wizard
13. John Reed, former CEO of Citigroup
14. Ted Turner, founder of CNN
15. Jim Clark, former CEO of Netscape
16. Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay
17. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com
18. Michael Eisner, CEO of Disney
19. Peter Lynch, manager of Fidelity's Magellan Fund
20. Phil Knight, CEO of Nike
21. Katharine Graham, late CEO of Washington Post Co.
22. W. Edwards Deming, influential business consultant
23. Ken Lay, notorious former CEO of Enron
24. Shawn Fanning, founder of Napster
25. Lou Gerstner, former CEO of IBM
