William Clay Ford Jr., Ford Motor ~~Ford, 44, insists he never sought the CEO job at the carmaker. It's not an enviable position: car quality, factory productivity, and market share all are suffering. Employee morale is poor, as are relations with suppliers and dealers. Ford must make peace as he prepares a major restructuring (F
).
Douglas Daft, Coca-Cola ~~Daft still hasn't put the fizz back in Coke. Sprite and Coke Classic remain flat despite a $300 million marketing boost. And Daft, 58, pulled the plug on his own deal to co-produce juice drinks and snacks with Procter & Gamble Co. Coke's (KO
) star-studded board will be patient only so long.
Christopher Galvin, Motorola ~~This ought to be the year of reckoning for Galvin, 51. Motorola (MOT
) is expected to report an operating loss for 2001--its first in 71 years. Galvin is reinvigorating the company's wireless phone business. But to save his job, he'll also have to do better with semiconductors and network gear.
Michael Eisner, Disney
~~Eisner, 59, must revamp Disney (DIS
) after ratings at ABC fell and theme-parks attendance dropped. To cut costs, he closed the GO Web network and is shuttering nearly half of the company's U.S. stores. Eisner could be fending off unwanted suitors if he can't get that Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah back.
Carly Fiorina, Hewlett-Packard
~~Fiorina, 47, is in a battle for survival. Her sweeping reforms failed to improve HP's (HWP
) performance in most of its markets. And her acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp. is on the ropes. Even if she wins and the deal goes through, Fiorina has to execute flawlessly on the biggest tech merger ever.
Michael Capellas, Compaq
~~Capellas, 47, shocked the world when he agreed to merge Compaq (CPQ
) with Hewlett-Packard Co. and play second fiddle to Carly Fiorina. If they somehow save the deal, he has the tough job of merging the operations. If it fizzles, he'll need another surprise to convince investors that Compaq can go it alone.
Abigail Johnson, Fidelity
~~Johnson, 40, has the toughest job in the fund industry. In May, she was named president of Fidelity's mutual-fund unit. She is in line to succeed her father, Chairman Edward C. "Ned" Johnson III, 71, when he retires. But if Fidelity's funds perform poorly, her ascent will be tarnished.
Jack Greenberg, McDonald's
~~Greenberg, 59, earned a spot in the history books in 2001 when he became the first McDonald's (MCD
) CEO to preside over four quarters in a row of declining profits. A repeat in 2002 and Greenberg may be history, too. His big problems: Mad-cow disease scares overseas and poor service at home.
Rick Braddock, Priceline
~~
Braddock, 59, salvaged a third-quarter profit and bolstered Priceline's (PCLN
) stock by buying 750,000 shares. Its travel sales are hovering around pre-September 11 levels. But Priceline needs to sell enough mortgages, cars, and long-distance minutes to prove it can be a high-growth business.
John Creighton, UAL
~~Creighton, 69, is in the race of his career. His predecessor, James Goodwin, cut the payroll and flight schedule at UAL's United Airlines Inc. (UAL
) Now, the new CEO must wring wage cuts from United's unions before the airline runs out of money. At the rate it is burning cash, that could be midyear.
Terry Semel, Yahoo!
~~Seven months after Semel, 58, took the top job at Yahoo (YHOO
), he's just starting to restructure management while trying to reignite ad revenues. The first positive sign: an 86% jump in holiday-sales volume. But that alone may not be enough to win over advertisers and investors.
Stephen Bollenbach, Hilton
~~With fewer people traveling, hotels are hurting. And Hilton (HLT
) is already heavily in debt, thanks to an expansion binge. Still, Bollenbach, 59, has refused to slash capital spending and is using the slowdown to renovate older hotels. But if travel doesn't bounce back soon, Hilton could suffer.
Patricia Russo, Kodak
~~Can Russo, 49, revive troubled Kodak (EK
)? The star executive was hired away from Lucent Technologies Inc. in April to become president, behind Chairman and CEO Dan Carp. Her first big move to boost profits was a November restructuring. The payoff, if there is one, should come this year.
Jeffrey Bezos, Amazon.com
~~Against all odds, Bezos, 37, has kept Amazon.com (AMZN
) off the dot-com junk heap through savvy deals, a focus on customer service, and cost-cutting. Holiday sales may have been stronger than expected, but Bezos still has to do much more to satisfy increasingly impatient creditors and investors.
James Kilts, Gillette
~~The first outsider to head Gillette (G
) in seven decades, Kilts embarked on a comprehensive turnaround--beefing up marketing, cutting costs, and shaking up management. But the earnings slide has continued. Kilts, 53, said it would take time. This year, he'll have to deliver.
Ann Mulcahy, Xerox
~~Mulcahy, 49, appointed CEO in August, is popular with staff. But after five quarters of operating losses, Xerox (XRX
) still needs to convince Wall Street it can thrive again. She slashed expenses, sold assets, and promised to post profits in 2002. Xerox' reputation may be harder to resurrect.
Jean-Marie Messier, Vivendi Universal
~~Messier, 45, knows it will be a while before Web-enabled cell phones and interactive TV sets carry entertainment to the masses. That's why the chairman and CEO has struck deals with USA Networks, EchoStar, and others to broaden distribution of Vivendi's (V
) entertainment offerings.
Charles Ergen, Echostar
~~A onetime professional poker player, Ergen, 48, outdueled Rupert Murdoch to win satellite giant DirecTV. The deal is still under tough antitrust scrutiny. If he succeeds, Ergen will face cable outfits that want to up the ante with interactive TV and Net services that are hard to offer via satellite (DISH
).
Stan O'Neal, Merrill Lynch
~~O'Neal, Merrill's president, has terminated troubled overseas ventures and will cut payroll, possibly by as much as 15%. If he can't remake Merrill (MER
) into a more profitable giant, the firm could be bought. If he succeeds, O'Neal, 50, will take over from Chairman and CEO David H. Komansky.
John Eyler, Toys `R' Us ~~In a brutal retailing environment, CEO Eyler, 54, is laboring to turn the toy giant around (TOY
). This is the year his remodeled stores and new Times Square
showplace need to post strong results. If they don't, they'll go down as ill-advised extravagances.
Brian Roberts, Comcast
~~In December, CEO Roberts, 42, won a months-long bidding war for AT&T's cable assets. The $47 billion deal will make the Philadelphia-based company the largest cable operator in the U.S. That gives Roberts the leverage to buy more content and turn Comcast (CMCSA
) into a full-blown media empire.
Joseph Galli, Newell Rubbermaid ~~After some high-profile job-hopping, Galli became CEO of troubled Newell Rubbermaid (NWL
). He has cut jobs, hired a new sales force, and launched new products. Galli, 43, claims he's "gaining traction," but it's too early to say if he's right--or if he'll stick around long enough to find out.
David O'Reilly, Chevron Texaco ~~After paying $35 billion to buy Texaco, O'Reilly, 54, now has to deliver $1.8 billion in promised savings. The chief of the No.4 oil company (CVX
) may make a large natural-gas acquisition, and he intends to exploit projects such as oil fields in Kazakhstan and West Africa.
Bernard Arnault, LVMH ~~Arnault, 52, has added dozens of brands to the world's biggest luxury group over the past five years (LVMHY
). Problem is, most of the new stuff is losing money. To get back on track, he has to unload companies such as cosmetics retailer Sephora and pump more into purchases like Donna Karan.
Richard Parsons, AOL Time Warner ~~The surprise pick to succeed CEO Gerald M. Levin, Parsons, 53, faces a lot of heavy lifting. He has to revive the music business, roll out broadband services, and restore credibility with Wall Street. That's on top of maintaining harmony among the company's fiefdoms.
Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric ~~Jack Welch's successor has big plans, including more acquisitions and better customer focus. He also vows to boost diversity at the top. Meanwhile, Immelt, 45, has to keep up GE's double-digit growth in a sputtering economy. The airline slowdown could make that difficult.
Lawrence Bossidy, Honeywell Jack Welch's successor has big plans, including more acquisitions and better customer focus. He also vows to boost diversity at the top. Meanwhile, Immelt, 45, has to keep up GE's double-digit growth in a sputtering economy. The airline slowdown could make that difficult.
Lawrence Bossidy, Honeywell Bossidy, 66, came back from retirement to stabilize things after the collapse of Honeywell International's planned merger with General Electric Co. Now, the recession is forcing him to slash costs and dump businesses. But his main job is finding a successor before he leaves again this summer.
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