Reaching The Top From Another Company

Many top executives reach the highest position in their company by starting out from a lower position and slowly make their way to the top. Others have taken a different path. They start out from a lower position and make their way up the corporate ladder. Then they become the company head, but of a different company who have spotted their talent and hired them.

Take the case of John P. Daane. He spent fifteen years at LSI Logic Corporation which is a semiconductor manufacturer.  He reached the very high position of Executive Vice President for the Communications Products Group. Then he became President and CEO in November 2000, but for another company.

This company is Altera. Based in San Jose, California, and founded in 1983. It is a pioneer company in programmable logic solutions. The company provides software tools, intellectual property, embedded processors and customer support. In 2010 earnings was at $1.95 billion and had 13,000 global customers. Altera has 2,600 employees in 19 countries.

Daane was elected as one of the directors also in 2000. The company must have liked his performance as he was appointed less than three years later as chairman of the board of directors in 2003. As testament to his stewardship skills he has held the top positions for almost ten years or more.

When someone has talent it is appreciated not only in one’s own company but in other companies who may want to have someone’s management and leadership skills.

Disney’s Top Honcho: Robert A. Iger

You don’t have to found your own company to influence its direction and growth. If the company is really large the influence goes beyond it. The influence can reach the industry and even the world.

This is the case Robert A. Iger who rose through the ranks to head one of the largest media company in the world. Early on there were already indications that Iger belonged at the top. He graduated from Ithaca College with a B.S. in Television and Radio, graduating magna cum laude.

While some end up in a career somewhat different from their undergraduate degree course, Iger went straight to television as a weatherman for a local TV station.  Then in 1974 he entered American Broadcasting Company and made his way up the ladder.  He reached the post of president in 1993 of the ABC Network Television Group until 1994 and then became president and COO of the parent company Capital Cities/ABC.

The in 1996 an ownership change came about with Walt Disney Company buying Capital Cities/ABC. Iger though was able to keep the position of president until 1999. In early 1999 he was appointed president of Walt Disney International and chairman of the ABC Group.

It can be said that Iger was an outsider but was good enough to now become part of Disney operations. Although initially some thought the move was just to get him away from the everyday management of ABC which was not faring very well at that time.

Nevertheless Iger’s star continued to shine by 2000 he was named president and COO of Disney making him effectively the number two man in the company. In 2005 he became the CEO. Among the changes he made was to decentralize the structure giving more authority to individual business units.

Under his watch Disney bought animation jewel Pixar in 2006. His move reconciled management with the group of Roy E. Disney who were disillusioned with what Disney had become. It was now getting back its position as the dominant animation movie maker. Under his lead Marvel Entertainment was purchased in 2009 adding more character franchise to the company.

We are seeing today more movie hits that are in the animation category and Disney has played a major role in it. Iger was added the title of company chairman in March 2012.

Discovery’s New Life Under David M. Zaslav

David Zaslav did not start his career immediately in the world of media. In fact he graduated from Boston University School of Law with honors and joined a law firm in New York City.  In 1989 he entered television via NBC and played an important role in the development and operation of CNBC. Zaslav also played a significant role in establishing MSNBC in 1996.  He has been involved in numerous media properties of NBC such as Universal HD, USA Network, and Telemundo.

Zaslav held key positions notably in the cable TV area. From May 2006 to December 2006 he was the President of Cable & Domestic Television and New Media Distribution of NBC.  He then moved over to Discover Communications, Inc. in January 2007 as President, CEO, and Director.

Zaslav immediately set about to grow the company, while improving efficiency. Under Zaslav’s leadership Discovery began a new life as a public company in 2008. With his experience previously working for a public company Zaslav has instituted a number of initiatives such as a 200 percent increase in original content investment, the launching of the highly successful Investigation Discovery, and programs like Life and Frozen Planet.

The company also partnered with Oprah Winfrey to establish OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. This undertaking has had a rocky start but Zaslav has for now been solidly committed to it.  Under Zaslav’s leadership the company has had four consecutive double-digit earnings years and the trend looks to continue.

Laurence D. Fink: Finance In His Blood

Laurence Fink has been a finance man all his life. He first began his career with New York-based investment bank First Boston in 1976. He was good enough to eventually head the bank’s bond department.

While at First Boston he made distinctive accomplishment; this includes becoming one of the first mortgaged-backed security traders in Wall Street.  Fink started the Financial Futures and Options Department of the bank.  He was a member of the Management Committee; among other units he headed was the Mortgage and Real Estate Products Group.

Fink is reported to have added $1 billion to the bottom line of First Boston. Proving himself only human he is said to have also lost $100 million by making the wrong prediction on where interest rates were headed in 1986. 

Fink co-founded BlackRock in 1988 and was the Director and CEO of the company. BlackRock was at that time part of The Blackstone Group. It split from The Blackstone Group in 1994, became fully independent in 1998, and emerged as a publicly traded company in 1999.  Fink retained his CEO position during those changes and is now also the Chairman.

He has had great success leading BlackRock and they were more than enough to cover of some of his setbacks. The most notable was a Manhattan real estate deal which took $5.4 billion to execute in 2006. It ended in default and among the biggest losers were the California Pension and Retirement System which lost around $500 million.

Fink made a brilliant move in merging with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers in 2006 which doubled the asset management portfolio of BlackRock. He is so highly regarded that the U.S. government asked BlackRock to help in cleaning up the mess due to the financial meltdown in 2008.  The purchase of Barclays Global Investors in 2009 turned BlackRock into the largest money-management company in the world with now $3.5 trillion in assets.

Fink earned a B.A. in political science in 1974 and an MBA in 1976 both from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Bringing Change To AMEX: Kenneth Chenault

As a child Kenneth Chenault was known by his parent to be exceptionally intelligent but just didn’t seem to have the desire to excel. His parents were both academically accomplished and had successful professions. It was while studying in a private high school that he finally found the motivation to excel with the help of the school head.  He graduated as class president, captain of the soccer, track, and basketball team teams.

He went on to Bowdoin College and afterwards obtained a law degree from Harvard Law School. He spent some time as a corporate lawyer. Then Chenault became a management consultant at Bain & Company before joining AMEX in 1981 as director of Strategic Planning in Travel Related Services.

In 1982 he joined the low performing merchandise-services unit and turned it sales from $100 million to $700 million in three years. From there his stock rose.  In the early 1990s Chenault was head of the domestic consumer-card division which was floundering and managed to turn it around.  With new programs he was able to bring in more card holders and more merchants.

Chenault was assigned to handle the U.S. Travel Services. Along with the AMEX CEO at that time he was able to realize savings reaching $3 billion while also increasing profit and increasing the number of card holders.  For all the changes he accomplishments Chenault was appointed vice-chairman in 1995 and became president and COO two years later. He became AMEX CEO in 2001 and currently holds the position.

His rise to the top was due to his outstanding performance. What has made his achievement more notable was he is one of the few blacks to do so.  

Steven Bangerter: A Results-driven Insurance and Business Litigation Attorney

As Managing Partner with Bangerter Sheppard, PC, Steven Bangerter focuses on corporate matters involving financing, real estate, contracts, and insurance coverage and defense. He additionally represents clients in litigation arising from financial agreements and in business matters involving fraud and breach of contract claims.  Reflecting the geographically diverse nature of clients and claims represented, Bangerter Sheppard maintains California offices in Los Angeles and Oakland, as well as a St. George, Utah, presence.

Mr. Bangerter earned his B.A. in Religious Studies at Arizona State University, subsequently achieving qualifications as Radiation Therapist at the University of Utah. He began his career in health services, notably earning the American Registry of Radiologic Technology’s Blue Ribbon Award for his research on irradiation treatments for breast cancer.

Reorienting professionally towards law, Steven Bangerter earned his J.D. at the Western State University College of Law in Orange County. He next took a position as Associate with a prominent Southern California practice, ultimately earning status as Partner and Board Member. Licensed to practice in Utah and California, Mr. Bangerter has managed the practice he helped establish for seven years.

One of Steven Bangerter’s primary areas of practice involves disputes and negotiations between insurance companies and insured parties. He undertakes representation for insured parties pursuing professional, commercial, premises, product, and vehicle liabilities claims. He also represents insurers as target defendants in highly complex litigation cases. Mr. Bangerter works with insurers in seeking appropriate ways of handling claims, encompassing denying liability, paying out, or pursuing declaratory relief strategies. His firm’s core focus is on achieving time-effective results that achieve clients substantial net-yields. 

Leslie Moonves: Success With CBS

Being number three in ranking is not so bad unless there are only three contestants. That’s the position CBS held for quite some time. It wasn’t exactly a very entertaining network mostly focused on its more mature TV reporting.

Then in 1995 Leslie Moonves joined CBS as president of entertainment. Together with his team he led CBS from perennial last to perennial first in ratings.  Among the hit shows under his watch include “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Survivor,” and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”

In 1998 Moonves moved up the ladder becoming the president and CEO of CBS Television. In 2003 he was appointed chairman.  Changes in ownership structure only highlighted the management and leadership skills of Moonves. In 2004 he was appointed chairman of CBS and president and COO of Viacom.

Then in 2006 Viacom was split into two publically traded companies.  CBS Corporation was one of these companies and Moonves became president and CEO, positions he currently holds. CBS is one of the largest media outfit in the U.S. and the world. Businesses under the corporation include CBS Television Network, The CW (a CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment joint venture), CBS Television Stations, CBS Television, CBS Radio, CBS Sports Network, and other entities. 

Prior to joining CBS Moonves was the president of Warner Bros. Television and the TV hit shows “Friends” and “ER” were developed under his watch.  Moonves was born in New York City in 1946 and graduated from Bucknell University in 1971 majoring in Spanish.

Earlier in his career he worked for 20^th Century Fox Television and moved on to Lorimar Television. He served as president for Lorimar from 1989 to 1993. In 1993 he became president and CEO of Warner Bros. Television when Lorimar Television and Warner Bros. merged. Like later on at CBS, Moonves career would only improve with changes in corporate structure and ownership.

Moonves has shown that he is a top-notch executive valued for his management and leadership skills. In fact CBS has gone to the extent of offering him a production deal after his contract expires in 2015.

A Career Forged In Steel

Daniel R. DiMicco became the CEO of Nucor Corporation in 2000 and the Chairman in 2006. You can say his whole career has been forged in steel. From his college education to his professional life all has been focused on the steel industry.

Dan got his B.S. in Engineering, Metallurgy and Material Science from Brown University in 1972. He then obtained his M.S. in Metallurgy and Material Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1975.

Dan first worked in 1975 for Republic Steel Corporation in Cleveland, Ohio. He was a research metallurgist and project leader.  In 1982 Dan moved to Nucor Steel in Plymouth, Utah as Plant Metallurgist and Manager of Quality Control.  He became Melting and Casting Manager at the Utah division in 1998 and his star has been rising in the company ever since.

Dan held the position of President from 2000 to 20011. His tenure has been marked with unmatched period of growth in company history.  He has also been active on the political front pointing out in many forums the need for fair trade practices that should be applied to foreign steel manufacturers as well.

The big steel producers in the world are no longer American companies.  Nucor holds the distinction of being the largest steel manufacturer in the U.S. and the world’s number one steel recycler.  Among the technological innovations implemented under Dan’s stewardship was the “micro” mill introduced in 2002. This is a smaller mill with fewer steps to produce steel sheets at a lesser cost and producing must lesser greenhouse gases.

Dan is very much into regaining America’s lost glory in the steel industry.

A New York State-registered Pharmacist With Executive Responsibilities

A New York state-registered pharmacist, Ellen Scharaga has been responsible for the implementation and oversight of a wide spectrum of specialty injectable and home infusion programs over the past three decades. She has notably ensured compliance with HMO, PPO, government, and Medicare Part D health care coverage programs, maximizing quality of care and pharmacy profitability.

Since 2009, Ms. Scharaga has served as Senior Vice President of Operations with Great Neck, New York, based OncoMed Pharmaceutical Services. Her range of oversight responsibilities encompasses all oncology-focused pharmacy operations, including recruiting, hiring, and training of personnel. Staff size has notably increased by 50 percent throughout her tenure. Ms. Scharaga also directs daily pharmacy call center and drug dispensing services, stressing quick and efficient turnaround. Her efforts over the past three years have expedited speed-of-processing by approximately 30 percent.

Prior to accepting her current role, Ellen Scharaga held responsibilities as Vice President of Pharmacy with New York Group Health Inc. Supporting corporate vision and mission, she led strategic development and business development initiatives. She initially joined New York Group Health in 1997. Earning a position as Pharmacy Director in 2000, she maintained a trend average nearly 50 percent lower than the industry average. Facing a significant call volume increase, Ms. Scharaga doubled the speed of the physician pre-authorization call center. She additionally led the development and implementation of disease management, subscriber, and physician education-focused programs as part of diabetes and asthma adherence and compliance initiatives. Ellen Scharaga received her B.S. in Pharmacology at St John's University in New York City.

Willing To Take The Risk: Ellen J. Kullman

Ellen Kullman is the Chairman and CEO of DuPont. This is not an ordinary company by any standards. On longevity alone it’s been around for 210 years. The company had earnings of $38.7 billion in 2011.

Ellen is the first Chairman and CEO in the company’s long history.  She started her career at General Electric then joined DuPont in 1988 as a marketing manager. She was on her way up the leadership ladder.  After a series of management positions, in 1995 she became the vice president and general manager of White Pigments & Mineral Products.

She was already comfortable with her job leading around 6,000 employees and managing a $2 billion business.  Then in the latter part of 1998 she was asked to create a consultancy business based on the company’s safety practices.  DuPont’s CEO then told her it was alright if she would not accept the new job assignment.

Taking this challenge had its perils. It would seem like she was being pushed out of a stable job position for someone else to take over.  Kullman would start with virtually nothing but an idea.

Both her mentor at DuPont and her husband were not in favor of it. It would be something totally new for her since she would have to be more entrepreneurial in this undertaking. It would also be new for DuPont since it was a company that sold products and not services.

It must have been the challenge that made her decide to take the job. It would really put her to the test. It was totally new and she had a clean slate to start with. Kullman was able to convince some people to work with her.  She assured them that she would help them find another job at DuPont if it didn’t work out.

Turning the idea into reality was not an easy task there were failures along the way. It was all worth it since she was able to turn safety consultancy into a $ 5 billion dollar business.  This achievement certainly helped her rise to the top.