23 Apr 2009, PTI
NEW YORK: Software czar Bill Gates, legendary investor Warren Buffett and Apple's Steve Jobs have been named among the 20 best American CEOs of all time while Citigroup's India-born chief Vikram Pandit has found a place among the 20 worst ever. The worst CEOs in American history is the bankrupt Lehman Brothers' Dick Fuld.
The list of '20 Best CEOs' complied by US publication Conde Nast Portfolio is topped by auto maker Ford Motor's Henry Ford, while financial services major J P Morgan's J P Morgan has cornered the second place.
Jobs, Gates and Buffett are placed at 7th, 10th and 16th positions, respectively.
"... we put together a panel of business-school professors to help us come up with a list of the 20 best American CEOs of all time. Ford came out on top," the publication said.
The co-founder of Microsoft, Gates, is "said to be cranky and impatient manager -- an approach that helped Microsoft earn USD 60 billion last year", the magazine noted.
"He is also known to be somewhat unfriendly to competition. In 2001, to settle a massive antitrust suit brought against Microsoft, Gates agreed to share technical information with other software makers," Conde Nast Portfolio said.
Writing on Buffett, the publication said that when the Oracle of Omaha bought a piece of Goldman Sachs last year, not only did he receive better terms than the government, he got better returns.
"As of February, Buffett's USD 5 billion investment had appreciated 12 per cent, while the Treasury's USD 10 billion stake had fallen 25 per cent," it added.
Wal-Mart's Sam Walton is ranked third, followed by car maker General Motors' Alfred Solan at the fourth and Lou Gerstner of IBM at the fifth spot.
Other names include iron and steel baron Andrew Carnegie (9th), New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (11th), Walt Disney (14th) and Washington Post's Katharine Graham (17th) and famous Oprah Winfrey Show's Oprah Winfrey at the 20th place.
Donning the role of a commander ill-equipped to save the Titanic of banking world, Citigroup's India-born chief Vikram Pandit has found a place among the 20 worst ever CEOs in the American history, but the top honours has gone to bankrupt Lehman Brothers' Dick Fuld.
The list of America's 20 worst ever CEOs, compiled by business magazine Conde Nast Portfolio after consulting with a panel of business school professors, identifies the business "leaders who helped drive their companies into the ground."
These 20 include "six men who helped make today's economy stink", the magazine said.
The list has been topped by Dick Fuld, under whose stewardship Lehman Brothers became the world's biggest ever bankruptcy candidate and marked the epitome of the current global economic crisis.
Pandit has been ranked last at 20th position in the list, which also includes troubled insurer AIG's Martin Sullivan and failed investment bank Merrill Lynch's Stan O'Neal as also computer giant HP's former chief Carly Fiorina, Enron's former chief Ken Lay and bankrupt telecom firm WorldCom's Bernie Ebbers.
About Pandit, the magazine said that he "did not create the mess Citi is in, but he is the financial services equivalent of the Titanic's Edward Smith — a commander ill- equipped to save his ship."
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