Satoru Iwata
Nintendo, CEO since ’02.
Richard Fuld
Lehman Brothers, CEO since ’94
Why: Teaching the House of Game Boy to grow up
ittle more than a year ago, it looked like game-over for Nintendo as Microsoft and Sony duked it out over the next generation of gaming consoles. Iwata, 47, changed all that with Wii (pronounced we, not why). The strikingly innovative console converts body motions like the swing of a tennis racquet into actions on a screen. Meanwhile, Ninten$40 NTDOY ADR / OTC do’s Brain Age, aimed at boomers Annualized Price Change fearful of losing mental acuity, has beOne Year 82.5% 30 While CEO 15.4% come one of America’s top-selling S&P 500 7.9% games. Result: Kyoto, Japan-based 20 2007 P/ E 33.2 Nintendo’s earnings are jumping and 5-Yr. Profit Growth 3.0% its cash hoard has swelled to more 10 than $6 billion. 2005 2006 ’07 Iwata, a former game developer, says his strategy is simple: “We are not fighting against other companies—we are fighting against ignorance of video games.” Certainly, no one is in the dark anymore about Nintendo’s potential. —Leslie P. Norton
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THE WORLD IS GETTING SMALLER, BUT NOT THE OPPORTUNITIES.
Why: Turning a bond shop into an elite investment bank eet Mr. Wall Street. A Lehman Brothers lifer who joined the firm in 1969, Fuld brings passion and competitiveness that are powerful even by Street standards. Thank Fuld for saving Lehman, which nearly lost its storied identity as part of American Express in the $90 LEH / NYSE late 1980s and early 1990s. Since its Annualized Price Change spinoff in 1994, Fuld has made the 75 One Year 0.5% bond specialist into a rival to Goldman While CEO 25.4% 60 S&P 500 11.2% Sachs and Morgan Stanley. 2007 P/ E 10.0 A tough former trader Fuld, 60, has 45 5-Yr. Profit Growth 33.0% developed the polish to woo corporate 30 clients. Last year, Lehman was the ad2005 2006 ’07 viser to AT&T on its $86 billion purchase of BellSouth, one of largest takeovers ever. Lehman’s stock is up 20-fold since ’94. That’s good news for employees, who own 30% of the company. And here’s some even better news: Fuld has no plans to retire. —A.B.
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Steven Jobs
Apple, CEO since ’97
Fred Goodwin
Royal Bank of Scotland, CEO since ’00
Why: As he goes, so goes Apple
Why: Adding a touch of tartan to the color of global money fter raising dividends by 15% or more for 14 straight years, what does a Scottish CEO do for an encore? If you’re Goodwin, you crank up your business in America and Asia. For years, Goodwin made his name on rigorous cost-cutting and by melding numerous acquisitions into the giant lender that Royal Bank is today. Now his Edinburgh-based £21 institution wants to be a major corporate Annualized Price Change RBS / UK banker in the U.S., competing with the One Year 5.2% 19 While CEO 16.6% likes of Citigroup and Bank of America. S&P 500 0.7% That means getting more out of its 17 2007 P/ E 9.6 U.S.-based Citizens Bank, which has 5-Yr. Profit Growth 23.6% posted flat results. But Goodwin is surely 15 up to the job: He has a knack for coaxing 2005 2006 ’07 double-digit growth from his businesses. Last year, total net climbed 15%, to £6.2 billion. Meanwhile, Goodwin’s once-criticized investment in the Bank of China looks set to produce the kind of returns his shareholders are accustomed to. —Vito J. Racanelli
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obs is arguably more important to investors than any CEO in America. He’s so connected to the fate of Apple that even fund managers who love the shares have been known to hedge their bets by taking sizable short positions on the chance he leaves. They think the shares could plunge by 20% or more if something were to happen to the iconic leader. $100 That puts the man’s stock market capi- Annualized Price Change AAPL / NNM 75 talization at $16 billion-plus. One Year 23.5% While CEO 33.5% Jobs indeed has faced some peril in 50 S&P 500 6.5% a messy options-backdating probe that 2007 P/ E 25.9 25 is still under way. But that doesn’t 5-Yr. Profit Growth 60.0% seem to have slowed him down in the 0 slightest. Through the ever-expanding 2005 2006 ’07 line of iPods, the new Mac personal computers and the forthcoming iPhones, Steve Jobs is setting the agenda for Silicon Valley, Hollywood and the global wireless communications industry. Has $16 billion ever gone so far? —Mark Veverka
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Henning Kagermann
SAP, CEO since ’03
Jeffrey Immelt
General Electric, CEO since ’01
Why: Adroitly steered a giant through turbulent times
Why: Building an even stronger giant than the one he inherited.
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agermann’s return engagement on our list almost marked his last hurrah. The charming, understated CEO was expected to retire at the end of this year, but his contract has just been extended, meaning he’ll run the world’s largest business-software company through May of 2009. That’s good for SAP: He ably led the German giant through the post-bubble dol$60 drums and took advantage of the disrup- Annualized Price Change SAP ADR / NYSE tions caused by Oracle’s takeover of PeoOne Year -18.9% 50 While CEO 11.2% pleSoft, Siebel Systems and others. S&P 500 12.6% Now that Oracle’s consolidation strat40 2007 P/ E 17.8 egy is bearing fruit, Kagermann may have 5-Yr. Profit Growth 26.9% to reconsider his staunch aversion to big 30 2005 2006 ’07 deals and do some shopping of its own. And, while Web-based upstarts like Salesforce.com are making serious inroads in corporate software services, SAP’s own attempts to develop such products have been lackluster. Our guess: Kagermann will rise to the occasion and fully earn his gold watch. —M.V.
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eff Immelt has accomplished much since succeeding Jack Welch six years ago. GE’s earnings have nearly doubled, to $21 billion, while Immelt has engineered an overhaul, buying high-return businesses in areas like health-care and shedding low-return reinsurance and life insurance units. GE is now heavily invested in aircraft engines and power generation, $40 GE / NYSE as well as water, wind and other enviAnnualized Price Change ronmentally promising products. One Year 6.2% 35 While CEO -0.2% Immelt’s GE is stronger than S&P 500 5.9% Welch’s GE. The business mix is better, 30 2007 P/ E 15.7 earnings quality is higher, and double5-Yr. Profit Growth 10.0% digit annual profit growth is more 25 achievable. 2005 2006 ’07 But Immelt’s GE share performance can’t match Welch’s. At around 35, the stock is about where it stood when he took over. Part of that reflects the stock’s hefty price-earnings ratio in 2001. Before too long, Immelt’s accomplishments ought to start getting more recognition on Wall Street. —A.B.