Thomas Wilson: Allstate Chairman & CEO

Thomas Wilson was born in 1958 and earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Michigan. He also holds a Masters degree in management from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellog Graduate School of Management. 

Thomas has worked for a number of companies before joining Allstate. He held various financial positions at Amoco Corporation where he worked form 1980 to 1986.  Thomas from 1986 to 1993 was managing director of mergers and acquisitions at Dean Witter Reynolds. He worked for Sears, Roebuck, and Company, where he was vice president of strategy and analysis. Thomas was responsible for strategic planning, financial planning and analysis, and special projects for the corporation.

He joined Allstate in 1995. Among his positions in his climb up the corporate ladder include servings as Allstate’s chief financial offer. Thomas was formerly chairman and president of Allstate Financial, where he led expansion of financial retirement services. 

He became CEO  of The Allstate Corporation on January 1, 2007, and the Chairman on April 30, 2008.

Inge Thulin: 3M Chairman & CEO

Inge Thulin, born in Sweden has risen through the ranks of an American multinational and now head this company.

Inge Thulin was born on November 9, 1953, in Malmo, Sweden. Inge studied Economics and Marketing at the School of Business, Economics and Law and related training at IHM Business School. 

He joined 3M in 1979 working in sales and marketing. He rose through the ranks holding positions of wider responsibilities. Thulin was promoted to vice president for the entire 3M in May 1, 2011, and was responsible for all the Group’s six business areas and international markets. He was able to grow sales to $20 billion which is two-thirds of the total group turnover. 

Inge’s predecessor Sir George W. Buckley, PhD eventually retired and Inge replaced him and became president and CEO on February 24, 2012. The title of chairman would later be added. 

Today around 64 percent of 3M’s revenue comes from outside the US and 60 percent of its employees work beyond US borders. 

Inge broke tradition in 2014 when he held 3M’s annual meeting outside of Minnesota for the first time, in Austin, Texas. He also surprised Wall Street with news that 3M could pursue multibillion-dollar acquisitions for the first time. Under Inge’s leadership the stock of 3M rose from $123 to $162 a share this year and breached the $100 billion market cap for the first time. This year, construction is well underway for the company’s new $150 million R&D Center on its Maplewood campus.

3M is a diversified technology company serving customers and communities with innovative products and services. The company operates its business through six segments: Industrial and Transportation, Health Care, Consumer and Office, Safety, Security and Protection Services, Display and Graphics and Electro and Communications.

Inge is proof of the quality of management and leadership skills of Swedish executives becoming president of a major publicly traded American conglomerate and guiding the company on a prosperous path. 

Chang Xiaobing: China Unicom Head

Chang Xiaobing was born on March 27, 1957, in China. He earned a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications engineering in 1982 from the Nanjing Institute of Posts and Telecommunications. Chang obtained a master’s degree in business administration from Tsinghua University in 2001. He earned a doctor’s degree in business administration from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2005. He is a senior engineer. 

Chang was a Deputy Director of the Nanjing Municipal Posts and Telecommunications Bureau of Jiangsu Province and a Deputy Director General of the Directorate General of Telecommunications of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and a Deputy Director General and Director General of the Department of Telecommunications Administration of the former Ministry of Information Industry, as well as Vice President of China Telecommunications Corporation. 

He later joined China United Telecommunications Corporation and became Chairman in November 2004. Chang was appointed as Executive Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited in December 2004. 

In December 2008, China United Telecommunications Corporation changed its company name to China United Network Communications Group Limited (“Unicom Group”). Chang serves as Chairman of the Unicom Group.

Sidney Toledano: Christian Dior CEO

Sidney Toledano was born on July 25, 1951, in Casablanca, Morocco. His father Boris Toledano, was a former president of the Jewish Community of Casablanca. Sidney holds an engineering degree from the Ecole Centrale of Paris. He also holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics. 

Sidney worked as a Marketing Consultant at Nielsen International then in 1982 joined Kickers as General Secretary. In 1984 he moved to Lancel were he was named Managing Director. Supervising product development he dramatically increased the sales of Lancel. 

Before long it was time for Sidney to take on another challenge and this time it was at Christian Dior Couture Fashion House. He joined the company in March 1994 as Director of the Leather Goods Division. In 1995, he launched the “Lady Dior” bag bringing worldwide success to the brand.  The following year Sidney was promoted to Managing Director in charge of international development. 

He became the President and Chief Executive Officer of Christian Dior Couture in 1998. During his tenure at Christian Dior he relaunched Dior Monsieur as Dior Homme, appointing Creative Director Hedi Slimane in 2001. Sidney developed Dior’s Haute Joaillerie and Fine Jewellery divisions, appointing Victoire de Castellane as Creative Director of Dior Fine Jewellery in 1998, and opening dedicated jeweller stores in New York and Paris in 1998 and 1999 respectively. 

Sidney is admired for his straight-talking charm and focused determination, which has allowed him to have productive relationships with Dior’s designers and guiding the company through tough times following their departures. 

As stated in the Business of Fashion magazine, he moving words at the 2011 A/W Christian Dior RTW show, just days after former Dior designer John Galliano was filmed making anti-Semitic remarks, showed the Sidney’s approachable manner and the pride he takes in all of his employees. 

He has led over a period of exponential expansion of Christian Dior; more than 200 international location have been opened during his time at the house.  

Nigel Wilson: Legal & General Group CEO

British Nigel Wilson was born on November 17, 1956. He earned his economics degree from the University of Warwick. Nigel holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

He has held a number of senior positions in companies he worked for before becoming the CEO of insurance company Legal & General Group. He became the CEO on June 30, 2012, succeeding Tim Breedon. In 2009, Nigel joined Legal & General as Group Financial Officer and played a leading role in charting the insurance company through the financial crisis. 

Prior to Legal & General, he worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. where his clients included BP, Citibank, Cadbury’s, Santander, Kingfisher, Courtaulds, Whitbread and Globe Investment Trust. Nigel was Managing Director at Stanhope Properties, Head of Corporate Finance and Group Commercial Director at Dixons Group and Chief Executive, Corporate at Guinness Peat Aviation. 

In 1996, he was appointed Group Finance Director of Viridian Group, the Irish energy firm, helping to build the company’s Viridian Capital portfolio. This work would propel him to become Managing Director of Viridian Capital in 2000. 

Chung-Mou Chang: Taiwan Semiconductor Chairman

Chung-Mou “Morris” Chang was born on July 10, 1931, in Ningbo, Zhejiang province. Morris at first wanted to be a writer, but his father thought he should try something else. He went to the US in 1949 to study at Harvard University. Later, Morris transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering in 1952. The following year he received his Masters of Science in mechanical engineering from the same university. 

In 1958, Morris joined Texas Instruments as an engineering manager. In 1964, he earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University. 

Morris spent 25 years at Texas Instruments and rose through the corporate ladder and eventually became the senior vice president in charge of the company’s global semiconductor business. In 1984 he left Texas Instrument then joined General Instrument Corporation as president. A year later the Taiwanese government recruited him to take over as president of its Industrial Technology Research Institute. 

Morris was put in charge of developing Taiwan’s emerging semiconductor industry. He came to the realization that electronic firms, in order to cut cost would increasingly need to outsource. So Morris came up with the idea of putting up a company that would work under contract to meet the design needs of such firms by making chips and other electronic devices. 

He founded, with the help of the Taiwanese government, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) and became its first CEO. Morris would go on to make TSMC into one of the most profitable chip makers in the world. TSMC, by 1999 had among its clients, Motorola, Siemens AG, and Texas Instruments and was hitting annual sales of $1.5 billion. 

Morris became a leading proponent of e-commerce, on the internet he placed a “technology library” which enabled users to access information on the products and designs of  TSMC. 

Morris did in fact find time to engage in his first love of writing. He wrote, “The Autobiography of Morris C.M. Chang-Volume I (1931-1964) which was published in 1998. 

Dan Amos: Aflac Chairman & CEO

Daniel Paul “Dan” Amos was born on August 13, 1951, in Pensacola, Florida. His father co-founded Aflac and Dan joined the company in 1973. Working in sales for 10 years, he was the company’s top sales person. He was promoted to president of Aflac in 1983, chief operating officer, chief executive officer of Aflac Incorporated in 1992 and chairman in 2001. 

Aflac is a huge company insuring more than 50 million people worldwide. The firm is the leading provider of individual insurance policies offered in the worksite in the United States. It is also the largest life insurer in Japan in terms of individual policies in force. 

Under Dan’s watch, Aflac’s revenues has grown from $2.7 billion in 1990 to $23.9 billion as of December 31, 2013. He has set the company on a path of being on the list of Fortunes’ Most Admired Companies every year since 2001. Aflac has been on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work for list for 16 consecutive years.

Dan has been cited as one of America’s Best CEOs by Institutional Investor magazine five times. 

Steve Easterbrook: McDonald’s CEO

British Stephen J. “Steve” Easterbrook was born in 1967 and grew up in Watford. He was educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys. Steve earned a natural sciences degree at St. Chad’s College, Durham University and played cricket. 

After graduating from university he trained as an accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Steve joined McDonald’s in 1993 as a financial reporting manager in London. He also spent 18 months at “Hamburger University," the McDonald’s corporate training academy near Chicago. 

After working in numerous roles in operation and finance he was named vice president for the UK’s southern region in 2001. He was promoted head of McDonald’s UK in 2006. Steve became in-charge of more than 1,200 outlets and an estimated £35 million marketing budget. In this role he implemented a major restaurant design, emphasized employee training, and adding health options to the menu which resulted in turning around the business in the region.

In 2010 Steve was named president of McDonald’s Europe, overseeing 7,000 restaurants in 39 countries. Initially he had been given the newly created role of global chief brand officer. McDonald’s made a U-turn on the decision after just two months and moved Steve back to London to look after its European business. 

Some are of the opinion that this situation made Steve leave McDonald’s in 2011. He landed a new job as chief executive of UK restaurant chain PizzaExpress. He was responsible for growing the number of outlets from 400 to around 600. It was a short stint as he left and became head of Wagamama, the noodle chain, in 2012. 

Steve returned to McDonald’s in 2013, this time finally taking up the global chief brand officer role permanently at the company’s headquarters in Illinois. Under his term the company began experimenting with more upmarket restaurants in Australia and made dramatic changes to its menu in the US. 

Steve became CEO of McDonald’s on March 1, 2015. He faces a major challenge as the company has been experiencing a continuous declining in sales. McDonald’s sees him as the man who can get the job done. 

John Koraleski: Union Pacific Chairman and CEO

John Koraleski is a product of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, obtaining both his bachelor’s and master’s degree in business administration from the said university. In 1972, John joined the railroad, and over the course of his career held various position at Union Pacific. 

Among others he has held positions in the Administrative and Real Estate Departments. John was the controller at Union Pacific Corporation from August 1998 to March 1999. He also served as the executive vice president of Finance and Information Technology of Union Pacific Railroad. John was the executive vice president of Marketing and Sales from March 1999 to March 2012. 

He was named president and chief executive officer of Union Pacific Corporation on March 2012. John was elected chairman on March 2014, and was named executive chairman of the board of directors on February 5, 2015.

When he assumed the position of CEO in March 2012, the company was experiencing tough times. This was due to the decline in coal shipments. Coal is a staple of Union Pacific. He predicted better times ahead which turned out to be right but also admits there are future challenges that the company has to address.