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BusinessWeek: January 10, 2000 |
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Cover Story: The 25 Top Managers
The 25 Top Managers of the Year Yet leaving the booming economy aside, there's a group of executives who deserve to raise their champagne flutes a bit higher than the rest. BUSINESS WEEK's 25 Top Managers of 1999 pushed their companies--and often their stock prices--to new highs. Some stood out by making smart decisions at lightning speed. Others were more patient, relentlessly pursuing a crucial deal or taking the time to right a once-sinking ship. In a year marked by hype, these execs' accomplishments were legit. It was the year the Internet went mainstream. So it's no surprise that many of BUSINESS WEEK's Top Managers came from the world of high technology or telecommunications. Cisco Systems President and Chief Executive John Chambers pulled further ahead in the networking-equipment business by courting customers and buying companies with key technology he didn't already own. Others, such as NTT DoCoMo President Keiji Tachikawa, capitalized on the convergence of telecommunications and the Net by launching an Internet service for mobile phones that has been a huge hit. Consolidators of fragmented or mature industries also fared well in 1999. Rather than facing competition alone, many decided they could accomplish more as a team. CBS President and CEO Mel Karmazin worked out a $80 billion buyout by Viacom, and MCI WorldCom President and CEO Bernie Ebbers won a hot bidding war for Sprint. Yet partnering didn't always mean a change in ownership: T.K. Koogle, CEO and chairman of Yahoo!, is in the enviable position of being the gatekeeper of a site any dot.com would kill to be associated with. Technology wasn't the only route to the top. Media maven Martha Stewart scored with an October initial public offering that crowned her queen of home and hearth. And while parents on budgets rue the day that Nintendo of America President Minoru Arakawa gave the green light to the infamous Pokemon, any kid will tell you that it was one of 1999's smartest moves. For some of this year's high achievers, success was all the sweeter for following many bitter years. Texaco CEO Peter Bijur fought back from a racial discrimination scandal by revamping his company's culture and improving minority hiring. And President and Chief Operating Officer Jim Curvey helped Fidelity Investments recover from a rash of staff departures. This year, Fidelity also overtook archrival Charles Schwab to become the largest provider of online brokerage accounts. To choose the year's 25 Top Managers, BUSINESS WEEK surveyed our staff of 149 writers and editors in 25 bureaus around the world. Then we pared the list by making sure each candidate's financial and stock performance outclassed the field. The result? A solid group of winners--all of whom deserve a toast. Return to top   Return to top TABLE The Honor Roll Minoru Arakawa NINTENDO AMERICA Bernard Arnault LVMH Arthur Blank HOME DEPOT Peter Bijur TEXACO Gordon Binder AMGEN Steve Case AMERICA ONLINE John Chambers CISCO SYSTEMS Jim Curvey FIDELITY INVESTMENTS Thierry Desmarest TOTALFINA Bernie Ebbers MCI WORLDCOM Tom Engibous TEXAS INSTRUMENTS Chris Gent VODAFONE AIRTOUCH Irwin Jacobs QUALCOMM Steve Jobs APPLE COMPUTER, PIXAR Mel Karmazin CBS/VIACOM Jim Kelly UNITED PARCEL SERVICE T.K. Koogle YAHOO! Ken Lay ENRON Jenny Ming OLD NAVY Thomas Siebel SIEBEL SYSTEMS Masayoshi Son SOFTBANK Martha Stewart MARTHA STEWART OMNIMEDIA Keiji Tachikawa NTT DOCOMO Jack Welch GENERAL ELECTRIC Yun Jong Yong SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS Return to top | |
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The Cisco Grown-Up It's no wonder that JOHN T. CHAMBERS, the supersalesman of networking giant Cisco Systems Inc., can't wipe the grin off his face. In the five years since he has been CEO, Cisco has grown to ten times its 1994 revenues and profits. Credit Chambers' round-the-clock work ethic and obsession with customer satisfaction. He'll take a call at 2 a.m. if a customer's network is down. Wall Street is happy, too: Cisco qualifies as one of the great stocks of all time. After doubling in 1999, it is now the third most valuable company in the world, after Microsoft and General Electric. Translated into hard dollars, in just the last year, its value has grown by a stunning $180 billion. How does he keep it up? Even the hypercompetitive Chambers, 50, admits to a bit of good luck. Cisco hit its stride just as the Internet revolution was swinging into full gear. It sells so-called routers and switches that direct data across the Net and around corporate networks, a business that grew 17% in 1999. "There's no substitute for being in the right industry at the right time," he says. But there's more to it than luck. Through a blistering streak of some 17 acquisitions in 1999 alone, Cisco has expanded into nearly every part of the networking industry. Chambers' goal is to change the way people "live, work, play, and learn" through Internet technology. And along the way, he wants to build Cisco into a $50 billion company in five more years. To get there, Chambers is setting his sights beyond data networking. He has made himself into an e-commerce emissary, criss-crossing the globe to sell corporate leaders and government officials on the virtues of the Net. And he is moving Cisco into new markets. In 1999, Chambers plunked down almost $10 billion to acquire three makers of equipmment that sends Net data over fiber-optic lines. "We're leading a revolution," says Chambers. "The odds are in our favor to win." In his shoes, who wouldn't be smiling? Return to top TABLE John T. Chambers' Key Accomplishments -- Shares rose 130% in '99, to about 105 -- Sales up around 44%, to $14 billion -- Broadened Cisco into strategic businesses such as software, consulting, and fiber-optic communications Return to top The Handyman You couldn't blame ARTHUR M. BLANK if he wanted to kick back and enjoy spending some of the billions he has amassed from helping build Home Depot Inc. into a $38 billion retailing juggernaut. But the 57-year-old Blank, Home Depot's CEO since 1997, shows no signs of slowing. Indeed, the avid runner still finds time to log 20 miles a week, sometimes in his favorite shirt, appropriately emblazoned "There is no finish line." He shows the same vigor at Home Depot's Atlanta headquarters. "If you listened in on one of our staff meetings, you'd think the company was in trouble," jokes Blank. "We spend 80% of our time talking about things we could do better." While other mega-retailers such as Toys `R' Us have hit a wall, Home Depot keeps smashing earnings records. And the growth is coming not so much from new stores but from a fat 10% sales hike at the existing 900 outlets. Sure, strong construction and home-renovation markets help. But some of Blank's new initiatives are also paying off. The chain last year began renting out tools and trucks, selling appliances, and providing on-the-spot loans of up to $20,000 for big-ticket home projects. His latest brainstorm: the compact Villager's Hardware stores, designed for downtown neighborhoods. Blank is also looking to expand in Europe and Asia. If those plans take off, maybe Blank will take a breather. Return to top TABLE Arthur M. Blank's Key Accomplishments -- Shares rose 57%, to roughly $96 -- Profits should jump 46%, to $2.3 billion for fiscal year 1999. Sales are expected to grow 25%, to $38 billion Return to top Rising Son It's good to be MASAYOSHI SON. The scrappy Tokyo-based founder of Internet phenom Softbank is now worth about $4 billion. And in 1999 Son finally quelled critics who once wrote him off as just another slick venture capitalist who got lucky with bets on hot Web names such as Yahoo! Son, 42, won over doubters by proving his Net investments could be parlayed into hugely promising alliances and joint ventures in overseas markets. So far, Son has already built a broad confederation of Internet-related affiliates in the U.S. and Japan, creating a sort of cyber-multinational. Softbank-affiliated companies swap ideas, capital, and marketing to promote growth. Visitors to Yahoo!'s site in Japan, for instance, can also check out mortgages on E-Loan, purchase stocks on E*Trade or price software on Buy.com, all companies in which Softbank owns stakes. Son's frenetic empire-building has dragged Japan out of the Web Dark Ages. From online trading to wireless technologies, he has ventures in virtually every segment of Japan's Internet economy, with stakes in 70% of the country's publicly traded Internet companies. At the same time Son is expanding across Asia and Europe, even as he sheds non-Internet assets, such as parts of publishing unit Ziff-Davis. The grandson of Korean immigrants, Son relishes breaking the rules of Japan's ossified old-boy network. As a member of a despised minority, he struggled to get the loans he needed to launch Softbank in 1981. Now he gets regular face time with Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. And investors are flocking to his money machine. With Softbank sitting on $30 billion in unrealized gains from its Internet portfolio, the stock has gone through the stratosphere. Not bad for a kid from the wrong side of the tracks. Return to top TABLE Masayoshi Son's Key Accomplishments -- Shares up more than 1,200%, to $795 -- Created a powerful Net empire by forging links between his 100-plus Net companies in the U.S. and Japan Return to top Old Navy's Skipper As president of Gap Inc.'s Old Navy chain, JENNY J. MING oversees everything from the retailer's store operations to marketing and advertising. But just a few weeks ago, Ming, 44, was in her real element: bouncing around Old Navy's sample rooms studying items for back-to-school 2000. Ming's passion for fashion has helped drive breakneck growth at Old Navy, which sells budget-priced jeans, T-shirts, and khaki pants to kids, teens, and young adults. Thanks to big bets on fleece tops and vests, Old Navy is now the biggest contributor to the parent company's overall growth, even as sales declined at the core Gap chain. Not too shabby for a chain that didn't even exist five years ago. So how does Ming, who emigrated at nine from Macao to San Francisco, figure out which fashions will appeal to the notoriously fickle teen market? Besides picking the brains of her two teenage daughters, she travels frequently to trendsetting cities. A few years ago in London she noticed that kids were starting to wear blue jeans in darker shades. "So I thought, `Let's darken our stonewash a little'," she recalls. "Now, we have a whole section of dark denim." One of four managers handpicked by Gap CEO Millard S. ("Mickey") Drexler to launch Old Navy in 1994, she headed up its merchandising division for four years before being promoted to president in April. Now, Ming, who favors stylish pastel pant suits and basic black herself, is under pressure to keep Old Navy's momentum going. She plans to open 100 locations in 2000 and is looking for new ways to market merchandise. One idea: taking the babies and kids area, and slicing it more finely into four sections for newborns, infants, toddlers, and children. That would allow stores to sharpen their target marketing. "We're a big business now," she says. "That means we have to be a little more thoughtful and do more planning." Ming is tight-lipped about what she's poring over these days in the sample rooms. Sorting through all the trends isn't easy, but leave it to Ming to figure out just which ones will be hits. Return to top TABLE Jenny J. Ming's Key Accomplishments -- Same-store sales up a hefty 18% through October -- Just five years after launch, Old Navy will account for 35% of Gap's projected overall sales of $11.5 billion in 1999 -- Opened 135 locations in 1999, bringing the total to more than 500 Return to top Viacompatible The Henny Youngman of media moguls, MEL KARMAZIN is predictably deadpan about being singled out as a top executive in his field. "That sounds depressing," he says. "Has the industry dropped that low?" But the 56-year-old CEO of CBS Corp. has clearly had a banner year. For one thing, there were the combined $11 billion acquisitions of billboard advertising company Outdoor Systems and TV-show syndicator King World Productions. Then there was the turnaround at the CBS television network and rapid growth of radio business Infinity Broadcasting. Even better, CBS stock has doubled this year, to about 60. But the real showstopper is Karmazin's merger of CBS with Viacom in a deal that will create a media giant to rival Time Warner and Walt Disney. The combined company will have stakes in two fast-growing media businesses: radio and cable networks. Those areas will account for two-thirds of the earnings in what will be known as Viacom when the deal closes early next year. Karmazin shrugs off the coup. "Yahoo!'s stock did better in one day than we did all year," he quips. The biggest Y2K question hanging over Karmazin's head now is how he'll manage to get along with Viacom Chairman and controlling shareholder Sumner M. Redstone. Karmazin will all but run the combined company, under a three-year contract. But Redstone will no doubt be keeping a close watch on Karmazin. "The only thing Sumner is questioning me on is that I achieve my goal, which is to make him richer than Bill Gates," he says. Ba-da-boom. Return to top TABLE Mel Karmazin's Key Accomplishments -- Doubled earnings at CBS, to $1 billion, on revenue of $8.6 billion -- Arranged the $80 billion merger of CBS with Viacom Return to top Binge and Purge Is there any limit to BERNARD J. EBBERS' appetite? In the past decade, the CEO of the company known as MCI WorldCom Inc. has taken over more than 60 rivals, including MCI. Now, the 58-year-old Ebbers has Sprint on his plate. It seems that whenever it's time for him to get around to managing his new assets, Ebbers orders up another telecom titan for lunch. Even while the feast goes on, Ebbers has kept revenues and profits soaring at MCI WorldCom, based in Clinton, Miss. A notorious penny-pincher--he lived in a double-wide trailer until last year, when he built a house--Ebbers loves to trim the fat from corporate budgets. When he took over MCI in 1998, he cut the fleet of seven corporate jets to three, and banned virtually all company cars. That helped slash overhead from 28% of revenues at MCI to 23% at the combined companies. There have been some bumps along the way. Last year, Ebbers lifted the stock by only 9%. And federal officials will likely demand tough concessions on the Sprint deal--if they approve it at all. But the jeans-clad executive isn't ready to call off the party. Since MCI WorldCom now gets nearly three-fourths of its revenue growth from international operations and data communications, expect it to be more active in Europe and Asia. Global consolidation is still rolling. And Ebbers is waiting, knife and fork in hand. Return to top TABLE Bernard J. Ebbers' Key Accomplishments -- Profits grew an estimated 194%, to $3.8 billion, in 1999 -- Turned toward more profitable data, Internet, and international operations Return to top Rooting Out Racism Talk about a baptism by fire. Just three months after PETER I. BIJUR became CEO of Texaco Inc., the oil giant was rocked by one of the worst corporate scandals in recent memory. Already in a lawsuit over racial discrimination, Texaco was shaken to its foundation: A tape recording surfaced revealing that senior executives, including the company's treasurer, had made disparaging racial remarks while discussing the suit. Bijur, 57, acted decisively. He quickly acknowledged in public that Texaco had a serious problem. Next, he promptly settled the lawsuit, for $140 million. And, following an investigation, he fired one executive and stripped the other two, already retired, of their benefits. But that wasn't all. For 60 straight days after the scandal broke, Bijur put aside the oil business to focus on fixing what he realized was a poisonous workplace culture. Bijur insisted that each one of Texaco's human- resources committees have at least one racial minority and one woman as a member. And he moved swiftly to hire prominent African Americans in Texaco's senior ranks. Bijur also tied bonuses to achieving diversity. It worked. African Americans made up 23% of the company's new hires, through June, 1999, up from 15% through June, 1998. And once it was clear Bijur meant business, other improvements for minorities began to show up. Promotions of African Americans, for instance, doubled over the same period, to 13%. Now, three years later, civil-rights leaders say Bijur has made Texaco a model for ridding corporate corridors of discrimination. "In many ways, Peter Bijur saved Texaco," says the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Bijur knows he still has a long way to go before he can claim victory in his battle with racism in the workplace. "It's never over," he says of his fight to overhaul the Texaco culture. But he can take some measure of satisfaction just knowing that Texaco is on the right path. Return to top TABLE Peter I. Bijur's Key Accomplishments -- After his company was labeled racist, he won the praise of civil-rights leaders for improving workplace diversity -- African-American hires, 15% of total in first half of `98, were 23% in first half of '99 -- Attracted minorities to key jobs, including treasurer Ira Hall, a former IBM executive Return to top LVMH's Big Shopper Who would have thought back in the fall of '98 that things would be looking so good today for BERNARD ARNAULT? As the Asian economic crisis torpedoed global demand for luxury goods, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton shares nosedived. But rather than hunkering down or cutting back, CEO Arnault, 50, began to boldly transform the world's largest luxury-goods maker. In the past year, he has launched the biggest acquisition spree in the company's history, spending more than $1.1 billion to buy everything from Swiss watchmakers and trendy U.S. cosmetics companies to the venerable British auction house Phillips. LVMH also is moving aggressively into mass retailing with its Sephora cosmetics chain, which opened 50 new stores in North America since 1998. The result: The Paris-based conglomerate is stronger than ever. With both sales and earnings again showing double-digit gains, and margins on the rise, the stock has roared back. As if that weren't enough, Arnault has emerged as a key player in European e-business. In July, his family holding company set up a $500 million fund that has taken stakes in more than 20 Internet startups. Thinking big is the hallmark of the coolly patrician Arnault, who once hoped to become a concert pianist but instead took over a bankrupt textile company and built it into the $8 billion-a-year LVMH. Now that's something worth raising a glass of bubbly over. Return to top TABLE Bernard Arnault's Key Accomplishments -- From just 23 in Oct. '98, LVMH's U.S. shares have vaulted 280%, to about 87 -- Earnings should grow 17% in '99, to $744 million, on sales up 15% to 20% Return to top A Class Act at Yahoo! In a year in which Internet frenzy hit new heights of hype and hoopla, TIMOTHY A. KOOGLE continues to build Yahoo! into the bluest of blue chips among Net companies. This year, Yahoo became the second in the sector, after America Online, to join the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. Even better, Yahoo achieved that feat just three short years after going public, less than half the time it took AOL. It's a bow to Koogle's successful strategy of making Yahoo! a powerful magnet for advertisers, merchants, and consumers. As the largest Internet portal, with sites in 21 countries, Yahoo just keeps gaining momentum. Early on, Koogle masterminded Yahoo's expansion from a simple search engine into a strongly branded consumer brand service. As a result, people visiting Yahoo this year almost tripled, to 105 million monthly. Revenues should hit $567.5 million, almost triple 1998. Even better, Yahoo is one of the few profitable Net companies. Koogle's lead helped him maintain an unwavering determination to remain independent, which stood out starkly in 1999. Unlike weaker rivals such as Excite and Infoseek, which got bought by bigger media and access companies, Yahoo remains on its own. To keep Yahoo pushing ahead, Koogle engineered the purchases of home-page site GeoCities and audio and video service Broadcast.com. Late in the year, he also struck an e-commerce partnership with Kmart. And as consumers start accessing the Web through non-PC devices, Koogle is rapidly signing deals that will insure they can get Yahoo wherever they want. Koogle is sticking to the basics--while maintaining warp speed. Return to top TABLE Timothy A. Koogle's Key Accomplishments -- Shares have more than tripled during 1999, to about 400 -- Yahoo should earn $131.6 million--a rare profitmaker in the Net world Return to top Martha's World She has taught Americans to snip, sew, and gently saute their way to the good life, but MARTHA STEWART's best do-it-yourself project won't appear in the pages of her glossy magazine. Behind the scenes, the former Connecticut caterer has created a sprawling media and merchandising empire that leaves larger rivals salivating with envy as they rush to replicate her formula. And in October came the piece de resistance: the workaholic chairman and chief executive of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia took her company public and became a billionaire. But Stewart, 58, is hardly taking a break to enjoy the post-IPO party. Instead, she's trying to build an empire that will teach the masses how to organize weddings, parties, and the perfect home--then sell the converts all the gear they need to do so. The goal, she says, is "to be the only place you need to go to get things for your home." Besides her monthly magazine, Stewart produces radio and TV segments and a newspaper column. This year Kmart will sell more than $1 billion of Martha Stewart brand merchandise. Then there's a burgeoning Web site with more than one million registered users. It's hard to believe that less than three years ago, Stewart was working for Time Warner and consulting on a few sheet patterns for Kmart. Credit Sharon Patrick, a former McKinsey consultant who is now company president and chief operating officer. She helped create a plan to buy back Martha Stewart Living magazine from Time Warner, financed in part through a deal with Kmart. Free to run things herself, Stewart has proven to be the consummate corporate manager. Now, however, she must make sure the Martha Stewart brand can survive without Martha Stewart. To do so, she is playing up her pool of in-house experts in various media outlets and looking at the possibility of a new TV series that she won't host. Sounds risky? You bet. But Stewart knows she needs all the help she can get to keep up the growth. Armed with new capital and fresh talent, she's hoping to whip up her best year yet. Return to top TABLE Martha Stewart's Key Accomplishments -- Created a media and merchandising giant--'99 sales should hit $224 million--that's now extending to the Net -- A splashy October IPO gave her empire a market cap of $1.1 billion Return to top Voracious at Vodafone The 51-year-old British chief executive of Vodafone AirTouch PLC, CHRISTOPHER C. GENT, ended 1999 exactly as he began it--with a hugely ambitious acquisition attempt. Back in January, 1999, Gent shocked the telecommunications world with his $62 billion bid for U.S. rival AirTouch Communications. Then, in November, Gent made an even more audacious move with a $128 billion hostile offer for German competitor Mannesmann. It's the largest hostile deal ever. In between, he managed to launch a $70 billion venture with Bell Atlantic, creating the world's biggest wireless empire. Two years ago, Gent and Vodafone were little known. But Gent was one of the first and most aggressive European telecom players to get out in front of a wave of consolidations sweeping the industry in the wake of deregulation. He put aside his hobbies of buying fine wine and collecting 17th century English oak furniture and went on a U.S.-style buying spree. His ability to pull off bold deals, financed largely with stock, has vaulted Vodafone into the global big leagues. Gent, who hails from the computer industry, has long been preparing for a center-stage role in the race to build the giant telecommunications providers needed for the online and wireless revolutions. An early believer in the mass-market potential of cellular, he was spreading the wireless gospel even before he joined Vodafone in 1985. These days, investors are all ears. Vodafone's share price has more than tripled since late 1997. For Gent, the runup means more powerful currency in his battle to land Mannesmann. If he can do that, as many expect he will, Gent will emerge the undisputed king of wireless. Return to top TABLE Christopher C. Gent's Key Accomplishments -- Gent's audacious deals have made Vodafone a global power in wireless -- Shares have skyrocketed 243%, to around $48, in two years Return to top Jobs's Juggling Act For STEVEN P. JOBS, CEO of Apple Computer Corp., 1999 was a brilliant second act. After restoring Apple's pride and profits in 1998, he's poised to supercharge growth with hot new products. The candy-colored iMac and portable iBook are flying out of the stores, and Apple's stock is soaring. The picture is just as bright at Pixar Animation Studios Inc., where Toy Story 2 is setting box-office records. With three blockbusters in three tries, Jobs has created one of Hollywood's most profitable moviemakers. His 65% stake is worth a hefty $1.2 billion. Call it sweet revenge for Jobs, 44, whose reputation seemed forever tarnished after his ouster from Apple in 1985. Besides dreaming up great products, he has shown he can execute. "I don't think people think of me as a manager," he says. "Once the visionary thing gets attached to you, it's hard to get rid of." Today, Jobs, who is consumed with details, from product design to advertising, runs Apple like a nimble startup. By streamlining production, Apple now operates with less inventory than Dell Computer. At Pixar, where Jobs spends only a third of his time, he has proven an inspired dealmaker. With Toy Story 2, partner Walt Disney had ordered a low-budget, straight-to-video project. Convinced that kids hadn't had enough of Woody and Buzz, Jobs persuaded Disney to splurge on a theatrical release. Can Jobs repeat the performance? It won't be easy. Pixar won't release its next movie until 2001. And Apple needs more hit products and an aggressive Net strategy. But Jobs isn't stopping. "If I didn't enjoy it, I'd be on a beach somewhere," he says. Why bother, when running Apple and Pixar is so much fun? Return to top TABLE Stephen P. Jobs' Key Accomplishments -- Apple's stock leapt roughly 140% in 1999, to about $99 -- Operating profits should jump 70%, to $612 million for year ending next Sept. Return to top Pokemon Patriarch In 1997, Nintendo of America President MINORU ARAKAWA made the biggest bet of his career. Everyone said he was nuts to import a strange Japanese video game featuring 150 tiny, collectible monsters. Research showed that American kids hated it, and employees dismissed the game as too confusing. But Arakawa persisted--and hit the Pokemon jackpot. Going with his gut has been Arakawa's standard operating procedure since founding Nintendo of America in 1980. Soon after the Pokemon craze began in Japan in 1996, he watched 100,000 people--some of whom had ridden the train two hours to get there--line up for a glimpse of new Pokemon characters at a festival. If U.S. kids showed half the enthusiasm, he figured he'd have a winner. Does he ever. In all its forms, Pokemon includes video games, a movie, cards, and a raft of toys and other merchandise. And Arakawa, who ruled against tailoring Pokemon for American kids, insisted on selling it all. Pokemon sales for Nintendo of America and its licensees have passed $1 billion since its 1998 launch. Still, the 53-year-old Arakawa isn't smug. "To be honest, I still don't understand the game," he says. Arakawa, a civil engineer by training, has made bold bets before. In 1985, Nintendo of America was struggling as the operator of such fading arcade games as Donkey Kong. To revive the company, Arakawa imported Nintendo's home-game console from Japan, even though game makers Atari and Coleco were struggling in the U.S. and the video-game industry was failing fast. The Nintendo system was a huge hit, and many in the industry credit Arakawa with reviving the U.S. video-game market. The son-in-law of Nintendo Chief Executive Hiroshi Yamauchi, Arakawa at first shunned the family business in favor of real estate and construction. But when Yamauchi asked him to create an American unit, he jumped at the chance to return to the U.S., where he had once studied civil engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The shy Arakawa, who rarely talks to the press, is praised by employees as a consensus-builder. Top managers in Seattle meet regularly around his desk, large enough to seat 18. In February, however, when Arakawa takes over as North American chairman, he will have to take on a much more public role. For now, Arakawa is just glad to hide behind that little monster, Pikachu. Return to top TABLE Minoru Arakawa's Key Accomplishments -- Scored huge hit by bringing Pokemon to U.S. over objections of co-workers and negative market research -- Pokemon, in all its myriad forms--cards, toys, video games and a movie --has racked up $1 billion in sales for Nintendo and its licensees in the U.S. Return to top Live Wire Welch When JOHN F. WELCH casually remarked last year that he will step down as chairman and CEO of General Electric in 2001, the news generated the kind of glowing comments usually saved for end-of-life assessments. Quipped the 64-year-old Welch: "It's great to be alive and read your own obituary." But in the year of the dot.com, the man many regard as the CEO of the Century is still delivering record results. Driven by Welch's push into services, finance, and global markets, GE should again rack up double-digit sales and earnings growth. That's quite a feat for a $100 billion-plus sales behemoth. GE is truly firing on all cylinders. Its engine unit landed a $100 million deal to develop a new engine for Boeing's longer-range aircraft. Its medical systems group inked a five-year $1.5 billion equipment and servicing pact with Columbia/HCA. GE Capital, the world's largest nonbank finance company, boasts investments in 45 e-business companies. And NBC has allied with a host of Net players to capitalize on the convergence of the media, entertainment, and technology industries. But that's only the most obvious part of Welch's all-out push to embrace the Internet. His e-commerce initiative is already transforming the way GE interacts with customers. The company now sells everything from home mortgages to highly sophisticated medical-imaging machines via the Net. Welch's biggest job this year, however, will be naming a successor. Whoever it turns out to be, Jack Welch's replacement will have one hard act to follow. Return to top TABLE John F. Welch's Key Accomplishments -- Profits should rise 15%, to $11 billion, on sales up 10%, to $110 billion -- With shares up 56%, to about 160, three-for-one stock split just announced Return to top On the Case at AOL Under Chairman and CEO STEPHEN M. CASE, America Online Inc. has become the 800-pound gorilla of e-commerce. AOL has 22 million subscribers, up 30% from a year ago, and online merchants and advertisers are tripping over one another to reach them. No wonder AOL scores record-breaking profits quarter after quarter and the stock keeps churning ahead. But that's not enough for Case, 41. A quiet strategic thinker, he spent the past year inking deals that extend AOL beyond the desktop, to TV screens, mobile phones, and handheld computers. Case invested $1.5 billion in Hughes Electronics Corp. to send AOL over satellite TV. Partnerships will put AOL on 3Com's Palm computing devices and Motorola's new smart phones. To beef up AOL's downloadable Web music, Case, a former singer for college rock bands, bought two digital music startups. He also just agreed to pay $1.1 billion for MapQuest.com, which provides maps online. And a venture with Eastman Kodak Co. lets AOL users more easily send photos via e-mail. With so many deals in the air, it would be easy for Case to lose focus. And indeed, he still has to show that AOL can grow as fast overseas as it has in the U.S. Investors are convinced that Case is on track to make AOL a household necessity--even if it's not necessarily on a PC. Return to top TABLE Stephen M. Case's Key Accomplishments -- Shares roughly doubled to 78 in 1999 -- Deals to broaden AOL's availability and services will help boost income 102% this fiscal year, to $800 million Return to top Qualcomm's Wizard If anyone deserves a millennial toast, it's IRWIN M. JACOBS, founder and chief executive of wireless technology company Qualcomm. A decade ago, skeptics dismissed his plan to commercialize a new and powerful, yet technically complex, digital wireless technology. Now, Jacobs, a 66-year-old former Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineering professor, is having the last laugh. Thanks to a patent agreement, Jacobs' technology is set to be in the guts of tens of millions of phones for years to come. That's one big reason why Qualcomm's stock--which went from $25 to about $520--was the best performer in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index for the year. Jacobs has been in business since 1968, when he started a company to develop advanced military communications. He founded Qualcomm in 1985 and has been relentlessly pushing his digital technology ever since. Fast-talking and articulate, Jacobs has made "some of the greatest signal-processing breakthroughs of the century," says Dwight Decker, chairman and CEO of rival chip-design house Conexant Systems. Decker adds that Jacobs is also "a PR wizard." Qualcomm's technology is already used in about 50% of new digital handsets sold in the U.S. Big carriers using it include such heavy-hitters as Sprint and Airtouch. Now, Qualcomm's prospects are better than ever. In 1999, Jacobs won a critical legal standoff with Swedish phonemaker Ericsson. The agreement paves the way for Qualcomm to receive fat royalties from European equipment makers--the leading players in the global telecom market. Why? Because Qualcomm's technology has been adopted as one of three new standards by the International Telecommunications Union for a new generation of digital wireless phones. Qualcomm shares also got a boost when Jacobs shed phone-manufacturing operations to concentrate on high-margin design and research. His 3.7% stake in Qualcomm is now worth about $2.7 billion. Even so, Jacobs and his wife, Joan, still live in the same modest ranch house they bought in 1966, when Jacobs was a professor. After the kind of year he has had, the Jacobs family can well afford to splurge on a new house--or just about anything else they want. Return to top TABLE Irwin M. Jacobs' Key Accomplishments -- Shares up roughly 1,900% in '99 -- Profits up 85%, to roughly $200 million -- Developed digital technology that was adopted in 1999 as a global standard for next-generation wireless cell phones Return to top Fixing Fidelity A couple of years ago, JAMES C. CURVEY, then head of Fidelity Investment's venture-capital unit, led an emotional management meeting. The financial-services giant was stumbling badly, its funds lagging and investors and managers alike bailing out. Curvey went around the room critiquing the performance of one high-ranking executive after another. It was painful, but the exercise helped convince CEO Edward "Ned" Johnson III that Fidelity's organizational structure was flawed--and that Curvey was the man to fix it. Shortly afterward, he was appointed chief operating officer and president. It's a move that's paid off big. Fidelity righted itself last year, thanks to Curvey's top-to-bottom reorganization. Assets are up, and Fidelity's online brokerage unit surged ahead of Charles Schwab with an ad blitz and upgraded offerings. Nearly every top position turned over as Curvey focused on eliminating internal conflict. Bonuses are now based in part on how well executives work together. His boldest move: appointing General Counsel Robert Pozen, who had no investment experience, to oversee the mutual-fund unit. Defections stopped, and performance edged upward. Despite his successes, the 64-year-old Curvey is not likely to get a promotion. Johnson's daughter, Abigail, 38, is serving as Pozen's top aide and preparing to replace her 69-year-old dad. Thanks to Curvey, the company she inherits should be alive and kicking. Return to top TABLE James C. Curvey's Key Accomplishments -- Reduced internal conflicts and spurred growth through management changes -- Increased assets under management by 14%, to $871 billion, through Nov. 30 Return to top The Dynamo at Enron Enron CEO KENNETH L. LAY doesn't like to put on airs. He won't take the express elevator to his 50th floor office in Houston. Instead, he usually rubs shoulders with the rank and file. But the unassuming Lay, raised on a farm in Missouri, is a towering giant in the energy world. Over the past 15 years, he has transformed Enron, a once-struggling pipeline company, into a cutting-edge energy powerhouse. A Republican fund-raiser savvy in the ways of Washington, Lay, 57, has deftly played the deregulation game to create the leading U.S. marketer of natural gas and electricity. First, he attacked the wholesale market, selling to utilities and cities. Now, Lay is chasing the $189 billion U.S. retail market, selling energy and services to commercial and industrial buyers. And Enron is also expanding in Europe and Asia. Lay, an economist by training, is now taking Enron into the red-hot communications industry. He is building up his own system to offer high-speed video and data transmission. And he hopes to build a market for trading "bandwidth," just as Enron pioneered the trading of energy using innovative financial contracts. Not all of Lay's efforts are home runs. An Enron-controlled water business has been a disappointment. And in 1998, Enron gave up on the residential power market in California. "From time to time things aren't going to work out as you hoped," says Lay. But he's not afraid to keep pitching. Return to top TABLE Kenneth L. Lay's Key Accomplishments -- Earnings should jump 32% for 1999, to $902 million, on revenue of $42 billion -- Shares rose about 50% last year, quadruple the S&P Natural Gas Index Return to top Texas Turnaround To look at him, you'd hardly peg THOMAS J. ENGIBOUS as an iconoclast. The stocky Texas Instruments Inc. chief executive, who despises neckties, blends right into a crowd of chip engineers. That's where he started his career. But his vision is far from modest: Since becoming CEO three years ago after the sudden death of predecessor Jerry R. Junkins, Engibous has reinvigorated the ailing electronics giant and turned it into one of the hottest plays in semiconductors. Credit Engibous, 46, for a daring strategy and skillful execution. When he took charge of venerable TI, it was a sprawling maker of chips, calculators, laptop PCs, military electronics, and engineering software. But revenues and profits peaked in 1995 at $11.4 billion and $1.1 billion respectively, and then started a sickening skid. Engibous, who joined TI in 1976 from grad school at Purdue University, engineered a turnaround by betting the company on an emerging class of chips known as digital signal processors (DSPs). The chips crunch vast streams of data for an array of digital gadgets, including modems and cellular phones. At the same time, Engibous shed billions of dollars worth of assets to focus on DSPs, which he calls "the most important silicon technology of the next decade." His timing was impeccable. DSP sales could surge 32% in 2000, on top of a 25% gain in '99. TI now commands nearly half of the $4.4 billion global market for the most advanced DSPs, and it's the No. 1 chip supplier to the sizzling digital wireless phone market. But competition is heating up from Lucent and Intel, which will unleash a new DSP chip later this year. Engibous travels constantly and rises before 4 a.m. to stay in touch with customers and employees. An ardent sports fan who played hockey at Purdue, his speeches are laden with sports metaphors. And after coaching his two sons' soccer and baseball teams for years, he relishes his role as TI's head coach. His plain-spoken style and bold game plan are paying off big. Return to top TABLE Thomas J. Engibous' Key Accomplishments -- Jump-started growth by focusing on key digital signal processing chip market -- Profits should more than triple in '99 to about $1.4 billion, on sales of $9.3 billion. -- Stock skyrocketed about 150% in 1999 to a recent $108 Return to top Amgen's Ace For most of his 11-year run as CEO of Amgen Inc., GORDON M. BINDER has had to listen as Wall Street carped that the biotechnology company was a two-trick pony with no hot new drug prospects. But Binder groomed that pony into a racehorse--and set Amgen stock on the fast track. Binder, 64, came to Amgen in 1982 as a finance expert to raise money for the startup. He succeeded admirably. But Binder--who makes sure to schedule his work around the annual company tennis tournament--also learned the science of biotechnology. And since taking over as CEO in 1988, he has come up with creative ways to keep Amgen from faltering. He used smart legal tactics to fend off challengers to the near monopolies held by Epogen, a 10-year-old drug used to treat anemia in dialysis patients, and Neupogen, 8 years old, which fights infections during chemotherapy. Binder also pushed the marketing envelope. Amgen hires nurses to work with oncologists and encourage them to use Neupogen to prevent as well as treat infections. The payoff: double-digit gains in both sales and earnings. Now Amgen finally has some powerful follow-up drugs. It is seeking federal approval for a longer-acting version of Epogen as well as the green light for Kineret, a drug that treats rheumatoid arthritis. However, Binder won't be around to take them to market. Next May, he'll turn Amgen over to his longtime No. 2, Kevin Sharer. Binder plans to dabble in venture capital and help one of his two sons start up a company. Once a finance guy, always a finance guy. Return to top TABLE Gordon M. Binder's Key Accomplishments -- Boosted stock price by around 100% last year, to about $54 -- Earnings up roughly 26%, to $1.1 billion, on 21% sales hike, to $3.3 billion Return to top Overhauling Samsung These have not been easy times for South Korean executives. Two years after the worst economic meltdown of the post World War II era, many are still struggling to get their companies back in gear. Few have succeeded in as dramatic a fashion as YUN JONG YONG, CEO of Samsung Electronics. His secret? A willingness to jettison decades-old ways of doing things in favor of basic business common sense and Western management ideas. By doing so, he is spearheading a revolution in Korean industry. Yun, 55, had been CEO less than a year when the Asian financial crisis hit in the fall of 1997. With Korea's currency trading at depressed levels, many of its giant corporate chaebol were cranking up production in an attempt to flood foreign markets. After all, the mantra in South Korea had long been to build market share, no matter what. But Yun, a 30-year Samsung veteran, broke with tradition. He slashed production of TVs and other appliances, cut a third of Samsung's workforce, and streamlined inventories, shaving $3 billion in costs and accounts-receivable. Next came a restructuring. Samsung sold or spun off dozens of companies unrelated to its core businesses and wrote off investments in such money losers as Samsung Motor and computer maker AST. Most important, Yun has diversified into new high-margin businesses. Back in 1995, the company had been dependent on memory chips for 50% of sales. That's now down to 20%, with the rest spread over telecom equipment, liquid-crystal displays for computers, and other high-technology gear. Today, Samsung is stronger than ever. Sales and profits are soaring. Well positioned for the digital revolution, Samsung may soon rank alongside the likes of electronics star Sony. As for Yun, he has emerged as a model executive for a still struggling Korea. Return to top TABLE Yun Jong Yong's Key Accomplishments -- Profits up tenfold in '99, to $2.4 billion, on sales up 24%, to $22 billion -- Share price up more than 200% in 1999 Return to top Out of the Box at UPS From its employees' brown uniforms to its boxy vans, United Parcel Service hardly looks like an icon of the New Economy. Don't be fooled. Chief Executive Officer JAMES P. KELLY has repositioned the UPS delivery folks as foot soldiers of the dot.com revolution. "We're a 92-year-old company that's reinvented itself several times, and we're doing it again," he says. Kelly, 55, has lived through many of those reinventions since he started as a UPS relief driver for the 1963 holiday season. Working his way through night school at Rutgers University, Kelly decided to become a full-time driver when he realized it paid double what he was making as an accountant. From there, he rocketed up the management chain, handling labor relations and other divisions before becoming CEO in 1997. These days, the golf fan is transforming the once-stodgy company into a Net darling by spending big on new technology and expanding abroad. The recast UPS is more than just a cargo hauler. Kelly has organized the company to manage an array of logistics systems for its dot.com customers, from managing inventory to performing customer service functions. Some five years ago, Kelly saw the power of the Internet as a sales channel and made it a key focus. Now UPS's vast array of delivery options makes it a one-stop shop for small and large customers alike. Kelly's big bets are paying off. Already, UPS handles 55% of all Net purchases, vs. 32% for the U.S. Postal Service and 10% for Federal Express. Wall Street is happy, too: The privately held UPS sold 10% of its stock in November, the largest IPO ever. Still, Kelly admits a challenge is preserving UPS's collegial atmosphere, at an outfit where loyal workers say they bleed brown. While Kelly is happy that the IPO enriched employees, the culture, he says, "is the thing we talk about more than any other issue. It's the last thing we want to screw up." To avoid creating a short-term mentality, Kelly won't post UPS's stock price inside headquarters. That approach should keep UPS delivering the right stuff. Return to top TABLE James P. Kelly's Key Accomplishments -- Oversaw $5.5 billion IPO in November. Shares are up 35%, to around 67 -- Made UPS the leader in e-commerce deliveries, with 55% market share -- Profits should grow 20% in 1999, to $2.3 billion, before special charges Return to top Total's Empire Builder Until THIERRY DESMAREST began playing in the oil patch, the term "Big Oil" was reserved for giant American and British players such as Exxon, Texaco, or BP. Continental Europeans couldn't compete. They were just too small. Now, thanks to a series of brilliant strategic moves, 54-year-old Desmarest has made Paris-based TotalFina a real contender. Last July, Desmarest astounded the oil industry--and the clubby world of French big business--with a $44 billion hostile bid for oil group Elf Aquitaine. Coming on the heels of the $12 billion acquisition in early 1999 of Belgium's Petrofina, the deal with Elf transforms Total into the world's fourth-largest oil and gas company. Not bad for a courteous and soft-spoken engineer known in the company as "le Petit Prince." Desmarest earned his laurels far from the industrial elite in Paris. In countries such as Venezuela and Algeria, he added huge amounts of cheap oil and gas reserves to Total's inventory as head of exploration and production. Then, within weeks of becoming CEO in 1995, Desmarest inked a landmark deal in Tehran making Total the first foreign oil company to produce in Iran since 1979. What's next for Desmarest? He's moving quickly to quell the public outcry following a big oil spill off the coast of France, and will likely be on the prowl again before long. Wherever he strikes next, Desmarest wants to be top dog in Europe. Big Oil, make room for one more. Return to top TABLE Thierry Desmarest's Key Accomplishments -- Acquired rival French oil company Elf Aquitaine for $44 billion -- Shares up about 35% in '99, as profits expected to grow 20%, to $3.1 billion Return to top Casting Japan's Net A 60-year-old engineer with a mobile phone company hardly seems like an apt candidate to lead an Internet revolution. But that's exactly what KEIJI TACHIKAWA is doing. He took over as president and chief executive of NTT DoCoMo, the wireless unit of Japan's former phone monopoly, in June, 1998. Since then, Tachikawa has introduced a new wireless Net access service that promises to catapult Japan to the front ranks of the mobile Internet. Tachikawa has forged a reputation as a nimble, open-minded manager who isn't afraid to hire experienced outsiders. He joined Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. in 1962, straight out of the University of Tokyo's engineering program. Tachikawa says it was in New York during the late '80s, where he set up NTT America, that he adopted a more entrepreneurial style: "I learned that it's very easy to form a company in America. All you need is a manager, a secretary, and $200, and you're in business." By the time he arrived at DoCoMo, it was clear the carrier needed an Internet access service. The result was i-mode, an easy-to-use mobile Net service that has taken Japan by storm since its February launch. Users purchase an i-mode handset and pay DoCoMo $3 a month for e-mail service and to display Web text. With 3 million i-mode users already, DoCoMo can expect to ring up even more profits. Since Tachikawa took it public in late '98, the stock has soared. Now he's pushing to deploy technology for even higher-capacity wireless. This is one ex-bureaucrat who isn't sitting around waiting for the phone to ring. Return to top TABLE Keiji Tachikawa's Key Accomplishments -- Turned "i-mode" Net access service for wireless phones into smash hit in Japan -- Since Oct. '98, IPO shares are up 290%, to about $37,000 Return to top Supersalesman Siebel You won't see any fine art on the walls at Siebel Systems Inc. in San Mateo, Calif. Instead, Chief Executive Officer THOMAS M. SIEBEL has decorated the place with photos of people who have bought the company's sales-management software. He sends out engineering SWAT teams to work around the clock when a problem comes up. He has even tied commissions and bonuses to how clients feel they're treated. While this level of obsession may seem over the top, it's all part of Siebel's campaign to make employees focus with laser intensity on customer satisfaction. "We're in the business of selling customer-service software, and we try to be the exemplar of that philosophy," he says. No wonder Siebel, 47, now runs the hottest company in one of the hottest software markets. He dominates a segment expected to grow 50% a year, to $16 billion by 2003. Siebel's sales jumped nearly 80% last year. And in the future, as he continues to add products that power e-commerce sites, Siebel could gain star status in the industry. He has already got the ego. Siebel points out that smaller players such as Vantive and Clarify stumbled and sold out in 1999. Larger software companies like Germany's SAP are late to market. "Our competitors' execution has been laughable," Siebel scoffs. He rubbed it in, too--by hiring more than 27 stars from SAP, which prompted an ongoing lawsuit. But he won't back off. "It's a free country, so we continue to hire their people," he says. For Siebel, victory is sweet. He started the company six years ago in the "crummiest" space in East Palo Alto, Silicon Valley's low-rent district. Most employees took stock options in lieu of salary, allowing him to spend only $1.8 million in the two years it took to build the company's first product. He got the cash from friends and by selling Gain Technologies, a database software company of which he was CEO and a shareholder. Today, Siebel owns about 9% of Siebel Systems, and he's worth more than $1.5 billion. But he still courts risk. This is the veteran software executive's third startup. And while the father of four no longer hang-glides, he still likes to ski fast on steep slopes when he has a chance. But that's about the only time his trajectory is downward. Return to top TABLE Thomas M. Siebel's Key Accomplishments -- Increased stock price more than 400% last year, to about $88 -- Profit up over 150%, to around $108 million, on sales up 79%, to $700 million -- Landed key deal for IBM to push Siebel's customer-relationship software Return to top Managers to Watch in 2000 William Gates MICROSOFT The software giant has never been in a tougher spot--and neither has the world's richest man. With the government aiming to break Microsoft's hold on the PC industry and class actions piling on, Gates, 44, must show the negotiating skills--and the humility--to work out a deal. Deborah Hopkins BOEING To sort out the aerospace giant's financial woes, new CFO Hopkins, 44, is closely scrutinizing production methods and costs at every unit of every division. If her re-engineering succeeds, Boeing could keep profits steady as 2000's cyclical downturn in aircraft production hits. Douglas Daft COCA-COLA Will things go better for Daft, 56, than they did for M. Douglas Ivester? Coke's respected Asia chief will take over the top job in April--and try to put the fizz back in Coke. Daft, an Australian, will get help from recovering global markets, but an edgy board will keep his honeymoon short. A. Barry Rand AVIS RENT A CAR When he left Xerox last year, Rand vowed to do bigger things. In November, he landed a job as chairman and CEO of Avis Rent A Car. Now Rand wants to take on leader Hertz by selling new services. Forget the Avis motto to try harder--Rand needs to deliver results. Meg Whitman eBAY Despite potent new competition from Yahoo! and Amazon.com, CEO Whitman, 43, has kept the fast-growing online flea market on top. Her biggest challenge: coping with eBay's popularity. If she can't stop the frequent site crashes, Whitman may find eBay's lead going, going, gone. Christopher Galvin MOTOROLA Can Galvin, 49, complete the turnaround at Motorola? Its 1999 comeback in digital phones impressed Wall Street, pushing shares up some 140%. But Galvin still has work to do. First on the priority list: finding a solution to Iridium, the struggling satellite venture. Carlos Gutierrez KELLOGG CEO since April, Gutierrez, 46, has wasted little time trying to bring some snap, crackle, and pop back to the cereal maker. He has launched ad campaigns and aggressively courted retailers. But until he delivers significant sales growth, the share price will likely remain soggy. Klaus Esser MANNESMANN Esser, 52, helped turn the German pipe manufacturer into a hot telecom company whose stock has risen ninefold in five years. Now he must repel a $128 billion hostile takeover bid by Vodafone AirTouch. Win, he's Europe's premier mobile-phone mogul. Lose, he's out of a job. Michael Bonsignore HONEYWELL Can CEO Bonsignore, 58, fill the shoes of his highly regarded predecessor, Larry Bossidy? Now heading the manufacturing giant formed by the merger of Bossidy's AlliedSignal and his Honeywell, Bonsignore must blend divergent cultures while meeting robust earnings expectations. Carleton Fiorina HEWLETT-PACKARD Fiorina, 45, is on the hot seat. Early moves, such as plans to make HP more customer-focused, won her praise, but now Fiorina faces the tough task of transforming HP's stodgy culture. She'll also have to make good on a promise for double-digit growth while appeasing in-house skeptics. Jeffrey Immelt GE MEDICAL SYSTEMS Will he get the nod, or won't he? Thanks to the supercharged growth he has overseen as president and CEO of GE's Medical Systems unit, outsiders think Immelt, 43, is the favorite to replace the retiring Jack Welch. If he doesn't, plenty of other companies will woo him. Lloyd Ward MAYTAG Ward, 50, has been through the wringer. In September, a month after becoming CEO, a huge earnings shortfall sent Maytag stock down 50%. Ward hit pay dirt as head of its appliance unit selling fancy washers, but now he must prove he can sell the cheaper ones, too. Michael Armstrong AT&T Since CEO Armstrong, 61, took over in '97, he's led one of the most ambitious turnarounds in history. He's invested a net $54 billion in cable companies and beefed up wireless. 2000 could bring the moment of truth, as investors discover if Armstrong can pull off his grand plans. Jill Barad MATTEL Barad, 47, is not making it easy on herself. For over a year, Mattel's feisty CEO has sorely tested investors by making ambitious promises of growth, then failing to deliver. With the stock down nearly 60% since April, the pressure will be on Barad in '00 as never before. Carlos Ghosn NISSAN MOTOR The 45-year-old COO may have the toughest job in the auto industry: bringing Japan's No.2 carmaker--expected to lose $5.7 billion this year --back from the brink. He'll shutter five factories in Japan and cut 21,000 global jobs in three years. Will that suffice? Jeffrey Bezos AMAZON.COM The Web's premier e-tailer has kept sales booming with an aggressive push beyond books. And the stock is up a cool 6000% since its '97 IPO. But as losses mount, the pressure is on CEO Bezos, 35, to give investors a clearer sign of how and when Amazon will turn a profit. Jean-Marie Messier VIVENDI The hard-charging French executive has skillfully honed Vivendi, once an unwieldy conglomerate, to focus on communications and utilities. But Messier, 43, remains far from his goal of making the company a pan-European media and Internet giant. Watch for him to seek an alliance. Dennis Kozlowski TYCO Since October, questions about Tyco's accounting have sent the once high-flying stock skidding some 40%. An SEC probe is now underway. Voracious dealmaker Kozlowski, 53, denies anything is amiss. But he'll have to rebuild investor confidence before resuming his go-go ways. G. Richard Thoman XEROX Thoman has struggled to turn the copier giant into a digital player. A troubled sales-force reshuffle, Y2K worries, problems in Brazil, and stronger rivals all battered earnings. With the stock off two-thirds since May, investors may get tired of waiting for CEO Thoman, 55, to deliver. Edward Crutchfield FIRST UNION Can Crutchfield, 57, revive First Union's sagging stock, down 48% from its January high? With two of the hungry banker's latest deals--the $16 billion CoreStates Financial takeover and the $2.1 billion buyout of The Money Store--gone sour, he must learn to manage as well as he does deals. George Shaheen WEBVAN Shaheen, 55, shocked colleagues by chucking a 30-year career at Andersen Consulting last year to head Internet grocer Webvan. But disappointing online grocery sales so far raise doubts about this e-concept. Shaheen will have to show he has what it takes to lead a dot.com upstart. Naoyuki Akikusa FUJITSU Since taking over as president in 1998, Akikusa, 61, has struck a slew of deals to position Fujitsu as Japan's biggest Internet service provider. But with e-commerce expected to take off in Japan, Akikusa faces a tough race keeping ahead of rivals NEC, Hitachi, and IBM Japan. Geraldine Laybourne OXYGEN MEDIA Laybourne, 52, is betting big that the February launch of her women's cable channel and the redesign of Oxygen's Web site will exploit an underserved market for women. She has major-league backers, but the pressure is on the former Nickelodeon exec. Will anyone be watching? Jacques Nasser FORD MOTOR Nasser, 52, had a busy first year as president and CEO. He bought Volvo and other businesses, recruited high-level outsiders, announced a global restructuring, and dove into e-commerce. Now Nasser is looking to make the moves pay off as auto sales ease from 1999's record pace. Return to top The Top Entrepreneurs Red Hat Trick Bill Gates, watch your back. Here comes ROBERT F. YOUNG. In just four years, the former newsletter publisher has made his Red Hat Inc. the first name in the burgeoning Linux software movement. It's not only a growing threat to Microsoft; it was also one of the hottest IPOs of 1999. With shares up roughly 1,800% since August, Young, 45, now sports a net worth of more than $2 billion to go along with his trademark red fedora. His masterstroke was securing early support from such heavyweights as Compaq, Oracle, and IBM. Though revenues were only around $18 million in 1999, they're projected to soar to $43 million next year. Even better, losses should shrink from $12 million to $5 million. That's clearly enough for Wall Street, which is betting Red Hat will stay red hot. Bags of Money Most women put their money in their handbags--that's where trendy designer KATE SPADE is making hers. Spade's line of elegant and whimsical bags, which range from pink herringbone carryalls and velvet tiger-print shoppers to simple nylon totes, are among fashion's hottest must-haves. A former Mademoiselle magazine editor, Spade, 37, and her husband, ANDY, 37, started Kate Spade in 1993 with $35,000 of his 401(k) savings. Midwestern innocence meets European runways in Kansas City native "Katie," who favors hoop skirts and kitten heels. She has scored big by making handbags fashionable as well as functional. Last year, sales doubled to $50 million as Kate Spade branched out into stationery, shoes, and a line of men's bags from creative director Andy. In February, the company pocketed $33.6 million when Neiman Marcus Group Inc. bought a 56% stake. Covad Operations As CEO of Covad Communications, ROBERT E. KNOWLING JR. has turned copper phone wires into gold. Knowling, 44, runs the most successful of a crop of new phone companies that sell speedy digital Internet connections. Surging demand has sent Covad's revenues skyrocketing, from $5.3 million in 1998, to an expected $60 million in 1999, though the company is still in the red. Covad's subscribers should grow to 290,000 this year, up from 55,000 in '99. Knowling--a veteran of the Baby Bells who joined the three-year-old Covad in 1998--oversaw its IPO last January. The stock has since more than quintupled, to around 60, giving Covad a market cap of $5.6 billion. For Knowling, who grew up in poverty in rural Missouri, the sixth of thirteen children, entrepreneurialism has brought sweet success indeed. Wireless Wonder In five years, ALAIN ROSSMANN's Phone.com, formerly known as Unwired Planet, has wormed its microbrowsers into the wireless phones offered by just about every major cell-phone maker. Rossmann, 43, has positioned his company as the leader in developing technology that provides wireless subscribers with access to Internet services such as news, stocks, weather, and e-mail. Indeed, Rossmann, a one-time Apple Computer exec, is in the enviable spot of having the most popular microbrowser by far as demand for on-the-go Net services is soaring. Rossmann makes his money selling servers to phone companies that offer Internet access. Revenues, just $13.4 million this year, could reach $41 million next year and $73.3 million in 2001. Wall Street is impressed. Phone.com stock has soared 1,500%, to around $130, since its June initial public offering. eToy Story More than two years ago EDWARD C. "TOBY" LENK, 38, stunned toy industry leaders when his eToys Inc. began luring customers away from crowded stores to its friendly Web site. Lenk realized earlier than most that the Internet is a hassle-free way for parents to buy toys for their kids. Today, the company sells 100,000 different toys, books, videos, music, and software products. Analysts expect eToys' revenues to top $120 million for the year ending in March, up 300%. Lenk, CEO and self-styled "Uncle of the Board," quit a job as a strategic planner for Disney to start the e-tailer. Though the shares have taken a hit as big players such as Toys `R' Us and Wal-Mart have entered the market, eToys remains the player to beat in this fast-growing field. Infosys: Indian Jewel Soft-spoken N.R. NARAYANA MURTHY, 53, chairman of $120 million Infosys Technologies, built the software developer from scratch, starting in 1991 with seven partners and $1,000 in savings. The Bangalore, India-based company provides Internet and e-commerce software services to U.S. clients such as Aetna and Nortel. Since listing with Nasdaq in March, Infosys' American depository receipts have risen about 840%--giving it a market capitalization of $19 billion. Using Western management techniques, this humble engineer from South India is redefining the standard for performance in Corporate India. Freeplay's Fast Track Not every hot entrepreneur these days comes from the high-tech world. Take privately held Freeplay Energy Group co-CEOs RORY STEAR, 40, and CHRISTOPHER STAINES, 38. The South African duo have built a fast-growing business--and stayed true to a belief in social justice--selling wind-up radios that don't need batteries or electricity. To help educate people about preventing AIDS, they began to distribute them through agencies in the developing world. Recently, they've begun to sell the radios--for $80--to campers and boaters at Radio Shack, Sharper Image, and Sports Authority. Doing good while doing well is a lucrative combo: From $18.5 million in 1998, sales should hit $50 million this year. Return to top |
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