Joseph Jimenez: Stewarding Novartis

Joseph Jimenez has been the CEO of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis since 2010. Prior to this he was the Division Head, Novartis Pharmaceuticals. His performance as head of this division is noteworthy probably helping him secure the top post.

Jimenez spearheaded the transformation of the pharmaceutical portfolio to balance mass market and specialty products as well as significantly increased the percentage of sales for newly launched products. He also worked to realign the division’s commercial approach to concentrate on the individual requirements of customers and integrated more technology to better link with patients and customers.

It can’t be said that Jimenez is a company man.  He started working at Novartis in April 2007 as Division Head, Novartis Consumer Health.  Before that he was the president and CEO of the North America business for H.J.  Heinz Co., and as president and CEO of Heinz in Europe from 2002 to 2006.  Jimenez was also a nonexecutive director of AstraZeneca PLC, United Kingdom, from 2002 to 2007.

With the changing environment he sees China, Russia and Africa as new markets for growth. Jimenez also believes big data will have a lot of impact on research and new discoveries.

Andrew N. Liveris: International Executive

Andrew N. Liveris is an example of world globalization. He was born on May 5, 1954 in Darwin Australia. He lived in Darwin then transferred to Brisbane and continued his education at Brisbane State High School. Liveris went to the University of Queensland and earned a bachelor’s degree (first-class-honors) in Chemical Engineering.

He has spent his entire career at Dow Chemical Company and joined Dow in 1976 in Melbourne, Australia. Liveris spent a good portion of his career in Asia where his formative roles included 14 years in Hong Kong, general manager of Dow’s operation in Thailand, and president of all Asia-Pacific operations. He became member of the Board of Directors in February 2004, and was named CEO in November 2004. Liveris was elected as Chairman of the Board on April 1, 2006.

In 2005 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in science by his alma mater as well as being named Alumnus of the Year. He has been a big supporter of the university and was appointed Inaugural Chair to The University of Queensland in America Foundation in 2011.

One of the reasons the Board of Directors of Dow unanimously selected him to become CEO was his plan to transform the company. His plan involved Dow reinforcing its core strengths in providing its clients with customized chemicals, plastics and advanced materials while reducing the company’s exposure to commodity chemicals and plastics.

Liveris has been a strong advocate for manufacturing for the long-term health of a nation’s economy. He authored the book “Make It in America”, which presents a comprehensive set of practical solutions and business strategies.  Liveris serves as co-chair of U.S. President Obama’s Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships in the United States. 

In line with his heritage Liveris, is an executive board member of The Hellenic Initiative (THI), a non-profit, non-governmental organization that aims to leverage Diaspora resources to encourage entrepreneurship and job-creating investments in Greece.

Born in Australia, has worked in Asia, now based in America and among others working for Greek causes, you can’t be more international than Liveris. He heads a huge conglomerate as well. Dow Chemical Company which is based in Midland, Michigan had annual revenue of $57 billion in 2012.

 

Douglas R. Oberhelman: CAT Man

Douglas R. Oberhelman was born in February 25, 1953 and hails from Woodstock, Illinois. His father was a John Deere salesman.  Douglas earned a bachelor’s degree in 1975 from the Milikin University.

Upon graduation he joined earth-moving giant Caterpillar (CAT). Douglas has never been employed anywhere else.  He has held various positions such as senior finance representative based in South America for Caterpillar Americas Co. Douglas was region finance manager and district manager for Caterpillar’s North American Commercial Division and was managing director and vice general manager for strategic planning at Caterpillar Japan Ltd (CJL) – Tokyo, Japan. 

Having a good deal of experience and handling of the different business of the company Douglas continued his rise through the ranks with his promotion as vice present in 1995. In this capacity he served as the company’s chief financial officer with administrative responsibility for Caterpillar’s accounting, information services, tax, treasury, investor relations and marketing support services.

More promotions came along the way until the big one came in July 1, 2010 when he was elected CEO and a member of the Board of Directors. Douglas also became chairman on November 1, 2010.

Being loyal to one company has its rewards.

Nils Smedegaard Andersen: From Beer To Ships

There are people who just seem to know how to lead and manage. One person that fits into this category is Nils Smedegaard Andersen the Danish business executive who is the CEO and Partner at Danish shipping giant, A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S. What is interesting to note is Andersen did not rise through the ranks of the shipping industry to reach the top post.

He was actually in the beer industry. Prior to heading Maersk, Andersen was the CEO of international beer conglomerate Carlsberg. It wasn’t as if he was just passing through at Carlsberg either. He spent twenty years of his life there.  Carlsberg acknowledged the significant contribution Andersen had made to the company’s growth. As a sign of how the resignation was taken in a very professional manner he still sits in the board of Carlsberg.

He became the fourth CEO and Partner at Maersk in 2007. Andersen is not exactly new to Maersk as he has been on the Board of Directors since 2005. He was the CEO of Carlsberg since 2001 until he joined Maersk.

One of the main reasons Andersen decided to join Maersk was the challenges and excitement of a new career. It’s most certainly challenging considering that Maersk is the largest shipping company in the world. Its fleet comprises over 500 vessels.  The company employees 117,000 people in over 130 countries.  Maersk Line has 15 percent of the world market share.  The company is known for its capacity to lower freight charges to beat the competition.

One of the most significant moves Andersen has made at Maersk is the shift in focus to emerging markets. Under his leadership the company now operates in Africa, Latin America, and South America. Due to this, 40 percent of the company’s turnover now comes from these markets.

Andersen has also engaged in a bit of diversification investing a considerable amount of the company’s resources in the oil industry. This move has helped the bottom line when shipping business is down.

The consummate business leader, Andersen continues to face challenges at Maersk and it doesn’t look like he’s stopping any time soon.

Sam Walsh: Rio Tinto Big Boss

One of the largest mining companies in the world, Rio Tinto appointed Sam Walsh as CEO in January 2013. Walsh has a new challenging position to say the least. He replaced the former CEO Tom Albanese after Rio Tinto had write-downs of $22 billion in two years.

Walsh did not start out in the mining sector. Before joining the company he spent twenty years in the automotive industry at General Motors and Nissan Australia. An Australian citizen, Walsh went to Brighton Grammar School in Melbourne.  He earned a Bachelor of Commerce from Melbourne University. Walsh also completed a Fellowship Program at Kettering University in Michigan, USA.

At Rio Tinto Walsh has held a number of senior positions.  He was chief executive of the Aluminum group from 2001 to 2004.  During 2004 to 2009 he oversaw the rapid expansion of the Iron Ore group. Walsh led the successful mining operations and expansions in Pilbara, Western Australia. Under his leadership the productive Pilbara iron ore business developed to account for over 80 percent of Rio Tinto’s net earnings.

Rio Tinto and its shareholders are hoping Walsh can spread his profit making talents to the rest of the company.

Zhao Jianguo: Energy Man

It’s just sometime where we are born and the company that employs us which spells the difference whether we are well-known to the general public or not. People and companies in the Western World have a much freer press which reports on just about everything. This includes business and executive personalities.

So it’s not surprising that very few people in the Western World have not heard of Zhao Jianguo. He is the chairman of China Southern Power Grid (CSG).  To head this company involves a lot of responsibilities and skills and just mere connections will not do it. You have to be at the top of your game.

The area that CSG covers is a staggering 1 million square kilometers which has a population of 230 million.  If you think about it most of the countries in the entire world don’t have that kind of population. While the company Zhao runs covers 5 provinces it’s almost like running the energy needs of three or more countries.

China has greatly progressed over the decades and has a more sophisticated electricity sector.  CSG uses a variety of power resources including coal-fire, hydro power, oil/gas-turbine and wind power. The total installed capacity reached 188GW by the end of 2011.  One can just imagine the magnitude of what Zhao’s company deals with in term of electricity; the 220kV-and-above transmission line was 90,000 km in the aggregate.

CSG has actually one of the most sophisticated and technically advanced power grids in the world. It has long-distance, large capacity, ultra-high voltage and hybrid operation of AC DC. The company specifically operates in Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and Hainan provinces and regions. This puts CSG in a good location being adjacent to Hong Kong, Macau, and bordering Vietnam, the Laos and Cambodia. It has existing and planned projects with these entities/ countries.

Ranked as the 152th largest company in the world by Fortune magazine in 2012 with revenues of $60.5 billion and assets of $83 billion, Zhou heads a company whose performance not only affects China but many Southeast Asian countries as well. A huge responsibility and so far he has been up to the task.

  

Jerry Jones: Dallas Cowboys

Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys go hand in hand. He is not only the owner of the team but is the president and general manager. This just shows how involved he is with the team and not many owners are as deeply involved as he is.

Jones is a graduate of the University of Arkansas. Before getting involved with the Dallas Cowboys he made his first fortune drilling natural gas wells in the 1970s.  Jones made his big move in 1989 by purchasing the Dallas Cowboys for only $150 million.

Today the Dallas Cowboys is America’s most valuable sports team, currently worth $2.1 billion. It has great staying power even if it at times it doesn’t perform that well on the field. It is a winning team having won three Super Bowls in the 1990s. 

They do it big in Texas and Jones exemplifies this having built a gigantic 111,000-seat stadium for the Cowboys. Aside from the Cowboys Jones is also in the real estate business. He is a big time supporter of the Salvation Army as well. Over the past 15 years he has utilized the well-known Thanksgiving halftime show of the Cowboys to raise $1.6 billion for charity.

Jones lives and breathes Dallas Cowboys.

Jeremy Jacobs Sr.: Taking Over

One does not have to be original to be successful.  To achieve great things in life you simply just have to give the best when an opportunity comes along. There is also the need to be patient and staying the course. Looking for instant results many only mean short-term successes.

Jeremy Jacob, Sr. is the chairman and CEO of Delaware North Companies. He did not found this company. It was founded by his father Luis and his two uncles, Charles and Marvin in 1915. The company first sold concessions in theaters. Next they entered major league ballparks. In the 1950s the health of his two uncles were failing so his father Louis took over the company.

Then it was Jeremy’s turn to take over the company in 1968 upon the death of his father. He was 28 years old at the time. Jeremy was born on January 21, 1940 in Buffalo, New York. He earned his B.A. from the University of Buffalo’s School of Management and completed the Harvard School of Business Advanced Management Program.

Today the company he took over from his father is one of the largest privately held firms in North America. Delaware North Companies is a hospitality and food service enterprise the does business worldwide.  It is based in Buffalo, New York and operates in the lodging, sporting, airport, gaming and entertainment industries.

Delaware North provides food, drinks and entertainment at 200 venues in four countries. Among the venues it operates in includes Boston’s TD Garden (home of the Celtics), Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, and London’s Wembley and Emirates Stadiums.  North Delaware has more than 55,000 employees all over the world and has annual revenue of over $2.5 billion.

While most of his wealth stems from Delaware North, Jeremy is better known in the sporting world as the owner of the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. He has owned the Bruins since 1975. In 2011 he helped the Bruins win the Stanley Cup after a 39-year drought. It certainly didn’t come overnight and Jeremy made some changes in his management team to help bring it about.  Of late though, he was under fire for his role in the NHL lockout as chairman of the NHL’s Board of Governors.

You can’t please everyone but Jeremy has certainly been achieving in levels not everyone has reached.

 

Marius Kloppers: Nice Retirement

Marius Kloppers is an overachiever in every sense of the word. At 44 years of age he became the CEO of BHP Billiton, the largest resource company in world. This was in 2007.

He was born in Cape Town, South Africa and graduated with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Pretoria. Marius earned a PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also holds an MBA from INSEAD. Among the companies he worked for before joining Billiton in 1993 was McKinsey & Co.

Marius has been noted for his role in overhauling the global iron ore market to market-based pricing rather than annual contract talks.  He has also led in daring bids to take over rival Rio Tinto, Rio Tinto’s iron ore business, and Potash Corp. These all failed due to concerns from regulators.

Marius won praise for leading BHP through the global financial crisis in much better condition than industry peers. He did not do well with expensive bids for shale gas assets in the U.S. which led to $2.8 billion in writedowns in 2012. A 58 percent drop in profits for the second half of 2012 finally caused him to resign as CEO on May 2013 and retire on October 2013.

His retirement payout could add up to $45.4 million. That’s certainly a nice retirement package. At only 50 years of age we may not have heard the last from Marius Kloppers.