Dick Boer: Koninklijke Ahold N.V. CEO

Dick Boer lives in the Netherlands and is married with four children. He studied the Executive MBA at program IBO (Ziest).  Dick joined Ahold in 1998 and has worked his way up the corporate ladder. 

He was the CEO of Ahold Czech Republic from 1998 to 2000.  Next he was the President and CEO of Albert Heijn (an Ahold company) from 2000 to 2003. Dick’s good performance as an executive can readily be seen in his promotions. After his stint at Albert Heijn he was appointed President and CEO of Ahold’s Dutch operating companies from 2003 to 2006.  Then from 2006 to 2011 Dick was the COO of Ahold Europe. On March 2011 until present he has been the CEO of Ahold.

Ahold is a huge corporation. It is an international retailer based in the Netherlands that runs around 3,000 stores (most of it supermarkets) all over Europe and the U.S.  Dick is running a company that has been adjusting to changing times. One aspect of the supermarket retail business is the margins are thin and competition is fierce. So Dick has to make sure they are executing the right moves.

The change Ahold is undergoing was set into motion in 2006 when the board of Ahold asked management to make a full review of the company. Prior to that Ahold was a mixed bag of different brands, different structures and even different businesses with food retail in Europe and food service in the U.S.

At the end of 2006 Ahold decided to focus on food retail and in markets where it was or could become number one or number two.  This focus led to the sale of its wholesale division, US Foodservice in mid-2007.  Ahold USA and Ahold Europe became clearly delineated. After the restructuring the company is now focusing on growth with the strategy of “reshaping retail”.

Ahold has closed its hypermarkets and focusing on supermarkets, convenience and smaller-store concepts. It also recognized the importance of the online market. Dick wants Ahold to be as close to its customers as possible.

Dick runs a huge company and it’s not an easy task guiding it to reach its goal and so far he has done an admirable job. 

Ma Mingzhe: Chinese Insurance Figure

Ma Mingzhe was born in 1955 and hails from China. He has been the Chairman of Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. since April 1994 and its Chief Executive Officer since April 2001. Ma has held a number of positions in Ping An Insurance Company since its establishment in 1988.  One of the positions has been as President.

Ma has served as the Deputy Manager of China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Social Insurance Company.  He serves as an Executive Director at Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China, Ltd. He also serves as Member of the National Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

Ma has basically spent his entire career in the insurance industry. A hard working individual, it was he who opened the doors of Ping An to foreign investors such as HSBC, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs.  He is also pioneering since Ping An was one of the earliest companies to launch a successful float on a huge scale in Hong Kong.

Ma holds a Doctorate degree in Money and Banking from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law.

Elmar Degenhart: Continental Chief

Elmar Degenhart was born on January 29, 1959 in Dossenheim, Germany. Academic wise his achievement is quite impressive; he studied Air and Space Technology at the University of Stuttgart earning a degree in 1987. Elmar went on to obtain a Ph.D. in 1992. His thesis was on mechanical engineering in the area of cleanroom technology.

Elmar was a scientific employee at the Fraunhofer-Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA from 1987 to 1993. His last position was as Head of department Handling – and Industrial Robots Systems.

Obviously a technical expert in his field, Elmar also showed managerial skills which enabled him to climb the corporate ladder. He next worked at ITT Automotive Europe GmbH from 1993 to 1998 before leaving the company his last position was as Director Operations Brake Systems, North America.

From 1998 to 2003 he worked for Continental AG, as Executive Vice President Electronic Brake Systems and Member of the Management Board of Continental Teves AG & Co. oHG.  Then from 2004 to 2005 he was President Chassis Systems at Robert Bosch GmbH. Elmar then became CEO of Keiper Recaro Group and next President of Schaeffler Group Automotive.

Since August 12, 2009 Elmar has been the Chairman of the Executive Board of Continental AG, based in Hanover, Germany. His additional responsibilities include Corporate Communications, Corporate Quality and Environment, Continental Business System, and Automotive Central Functions.

Just how good are Elmar’s management and leadership skills? The supervisory board of Continental extended the contract of Elmar by 5 years until the end of August 2019. This is due to his outstanding work to bring Continental AG back into the fold of the DAX 30 companies and making it more sustainable as an innovative technology supplier.

Continental today is among the top 5 automotive suppliers in the world. It supplies brake systems, systems and components for powertrains and chassis, instrumentation, tires and more. As of December 2012 the firm had around 170,000 employees in 46 countries with sales of €32.7 billion.

Florentino Pérez Rodriguez: Spanish Executive

Florentino Pérez Rodriguez was born on March 8, 1947 in Hortaleza, Madrid, Spain. Today he also resides in Madrid, Spain. He went to the Polytechnic University of Madrid and earned a civil engineering degree. Florentino has had a varying and colorful career.

He entered politics in 1979 joining the Union of the Democratic Centre party. Florentino served among others on the Madrid city council. His political ambitions went further and he ran as a candidate for the Partido Reformista Democrático (Democratic Reform Party) in the 1986 general elections.

Florentino did not let his civil engineering training go to waste. He was named vice president of OCP Construcciones in 1993. In 1997, OCP and Giney Y Navarro merged forming Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, SA (ACS) and Florentino became president of the new company. It is today one of the largest construction companies in the world.

Florentino is definitely better known as the president of the Real Madrid Football Club. He has been president on separate terms and has now served a fourth term.  It was Florentino who started the era of brining very popular and very expensive football players to Real Madrid. 

Yoshio Sato: Sumitomo Life CEO

Yoshio Sato has served among number of positions at Sumitomo Life Insurance Company among the high level positions has been as Senior Vice President of Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. He has also served as Managing Director of the firm. Now he holds the highest executive posts in the firm. Sato has been the President since March 30, 2007 and is also the Chief Executive Officer.

The firm Sato heads has been in existence for over a hundred years and is currently one of the largest corporations in the world. Sumitomo Life Insurance Company began as Hinode Life Insurance Co., and was incorporated in May 1907. The firm changed its name on May 1926 to Sumitomo Life Insurance Co., Ltd. following its acquisition by Sumitomo Goshi (joint-stock) Company.

After WWII, in 1948 all assets and liabilities were transferred to Kokumin Life Insurance Co. in line with the Allies’ dismantling of large Japanese conglomerates which included “Sumitomo”. By 1952 the name was changed to Sumitomo Life Insurance Company.

A major overseas venture took place in 2005 when the firm Sato now heads, established PICC Life Insurance Co., Ltd. in China with The People’s Insurance Co. Group of China Limited. Under Sato’s leadership Sumitomo Life established Medicare Life Insurance Co., Ltd. as a life insurance subsidiary in April 2010. Another overseas venture took place in December 2012 with a business alliance formed with Bao Viet Holdings (Vietnam).

Based in Osaka, Japan Sumitomo Life Insurance provides life insurance products mainly in Japan. It offers individual life insurance products, including whole life insurance with term riders, interest-sensitive whole life insurance with benefit riders, whole life insurance, endowment insurance, and other individual life insurance products. This includes medical insurance, cancer insurance, juvenile insurance, and term rider with survival benefits as well as other financial products and services.

Sato heads a company that has around 42,098 employees distributed with 11,228 under administrative and 30,870 under sales. Sumitomo Life has 71 branch offices and 1,516 district offices. The firm’s total assets as of March 31, 2013 stood at $281.3 billion.

While not as popularly known globally Sato heads a huge company very few CEOs would ever have a chance of running.

Xu Bin: China South Industries Group Chairman

Many of you have not heard of Xu Bin. He is the Chairman of China South Industries Group.  The firm is a manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycle, vehicles components, optical-electronics products and other special products in China and internationally. It also produces military equipment. The Group operates wind power and solar power businesses and manufactures power equipment including wind power products and photovoltaic application system accessories products.

Xu Bin is not your typical executive who is running a huge multibillion dollar company with global ties. China South Industries Group is basically a state owned company. Thus in a direct way Xu Bin has to be both a business executive mixed with the talents of a politician.  He handles great responsibilities as he not only deals with executives from other large corporations in purely business undertakings but also has to consider the fact of the government interests in the company namely the military aspect.

China South Industries Group Corporation was founded in July 1999, undertaking the mission of “army protection and allegiance to country, strengthening enterprise and enriching people”. It is an important state-owned backbone enterprise directly under the central government. The firm is headquartered in Beijing, China.

John Chambers: Cisco CEO And Chairman

John Thomas Chambers was born on August 23, 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio. The family resided in Kanawha City, West Virginia. John’s father was an obstetrician while his mother was a psychiatrist. Having highly skilled parents is certainly an advantaged. John was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was nine years old. Fortunately he learned to cope with his disability with the aid of a therapist.

John enrolled at the School of Engineering at Duke University from 1967 to 1968. He earned his degree in business and a law degree at West Virginia University and an MBA in finance and management from Indiana University.

Armed with an MBA degree John started his career in technology sales at IBM from 1976 to 1982. He then moved to Wang Laboratories in 1982. John was appointed Vice President of U.S. Operations in 1987. While his career may have been in an upward trajectory, Wang Laboratories was having a different fate. The company’s profit in 1989 reached $2 billion only to experience a $700 million loss the following year. In 1990 John left Wang and joined Cisco in 1991. This was a pivotal move on his part and for Cisco as well.

Cisco was essentially a startup having been founded in 1983. John came in as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Operations. By 1995 he was promoted to President and CEO. John was elected Chairman of the Board in 2006 aside from his role as CEO.

John has helped grow Cisco from $70 million when he joined the company to $1.2 billion when he became CEO to a record-breaking $48.6 billion in 2013.

His outstanding leadership has been cited by many organizations. In 2012 he received the Bower Award for Business Leadership from the Franklin Institute, Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People, “CEO of the Year” by Chief Executive Magazine, and more. Under his stewardship Cisco has been named to Fortune’s “America’s Most Company” list since 1999.

Shuzo Sumi: Tokio Marine Holdings Chairman

Shuzo Sumi is Representative Director and Chairman of The Board of Tokio Marine Holdings. Like many in Japan and the rest of the world the position was reached through years of hard work resulting in the climb up the corporate ladder.

For Sumi the rise to the top post took over 40 years. He joined Tokio Marine in April 1970. Rising through the ranks in June 2000 he became Director and Chief Representative in London, Overseas Division of Tokio Marine. Two years later he became Managing Director of Tokio Marine.

By June 2005 Sumi was appointed Senior Managing Director of Tokio Marine and Nichido. In June 2007 he was both President and Chief Executive Officer of Tokio Marine & Nichido and Tokio Marine Holdings. Six years later on June 2013 he was elected Chairman of the Board of Tokio Marine & Nichido as well as Chairman of the Board of Tokio Marines Holdings.

Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2002 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is an insurance holding company, primarily engaged in life and non-life insurance business in Japan and internationally. Earnings for nine months ended December 31, 2012 consolidated ordinary income was JPY 3,167,354 million which was a marked improvement from JPY 2,693,878 million a year ago. The company itself Tokio Marine was actually established in 1879.