Tech's Top Gun CEOs

Started by dwarakesh, Jun 26, 2009, 10:31 AM

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dwarakesh

Last few months have been one of the toughest for most CEOs across industry verticals. The global economic onslaught of the past year has left few companies untouched.

The economic turbulence made many a CEOs worried about their companies being able to stay afloat through the recession, leave alone make profit. However, there are also CEOs who helped their companies not only stand tall during these times but also thrive.

Forbes magazine recently came out with a list of 25 such Top Gun CEOs. The report is based on the findings of Brendan Wood International, an advisory agency. The study ranks the top 25 CEOs for 2009 based on their ability to make smart acquisitions, make themselves visible and expand the company's value propositions, among other things.

About 317 companies were reviewed by 2,500 asset managers to determine the 'Top Guns' CEOs. Here's bringing you the Top Gun tech CEOs from the list.

dwarakesh

Gary C Butler, Automatic Data Processing

Topping the list is Automatic Data Process' Gary C Butler. According to the magazine he was "extremely strong at strategic planning and overall execution."

Automatic Data Processing Inc, with over 500,000 clients, is the largest company providing payroll and other personnel-related information technology services.

dwarakesh

Mark V Hurd, Hewlett-Packard

Mark V Hurd, the CEO of the world's top seller of personal computers, is the next technology CEO on the list. Hurd makes it to the list due to his strong track record and HP's tangible growth prospects.

"Mark has a very strong and proven track record at being able to balance cost-cutting and growth. This is a track record that extends beyond HP. He's developed a scenario for the company where there is two to three years of fairly tangible growth prospects that are within his control, and if he can strengthen the bench, I think that he can continue the momentum," writes the magazine.

Despite the US PC market declining 7 per cent in Q4 compared to Q3, HP held on to its lead in the desktop and laptop markets. The company ranked at no. 30 on the world's most admired companies list recently.

dwarakesh

Steven P Jobs, Apple

Next Top Gun CEO is Steven P Jobs the CEO of the world's no. 1 most admired company, Apple. According to Forbes, "Steve Jobs saved the company, plain and simple. He came back, amended the strategy and turned the company completely around. He developed new and fascinating devices that saved the company at the time when Macs were not selling well."

Bucking the global recessionary trend, IT giant Apple breached the $10 billion-mark in revenues in the quarter ended December 2008. The company recorded revenue and profit during its fiscal first quarter on the strength of laptop, iPod, and iPhone sales.

dwarakesh

Shantanu Narayen, Adobe Systems

Indian origin CEO of Adobe Systems Shantanu Narayen too makes it to the Top Gun CEOs list.

About Narayen, Forbes said that he had been in the industry for a very long time and "always has a strong sense of what the next key steps are in terms of positioning the company in the industry."

dwarakesh

Eric E Schmidt, Google

The fifth technology CEO in Forbes Top Gun CEOs list is Google CEO Eric E Schmidt. Writes Forbes on Schmidt, (he) "has got good brains. I like his style; he's not a slave to the financial markets, he just does his thing and what he thinks is right. Google always has the potential to surprise everyone with new products and direction. They have this aura about them; no matter what the market does, people have confidence in the stock, and he's directly responsible for it."

Google may be facing some recession pains, having killed a number of services, eliminating jobs, and cutting its famous perks, however, its revenue continues to grow.

The search company reported fourth-quarter 2008 revenue of $5.70 billion, an 18 per cent increase compared to its fourth quarter in 2007 and a 3 per cent increase over the $5.54 billion the company reported for its third quarter of 2008.

source: timesofindia