William Thomas: EOG Resources Chairman & CEO

William “Bill” Thomas holds a Bachelor of Science degree in geology from Texas A&M University at College Station. Early in Bill’s career, he held various technical positions such as district geologist, senior exploration geologies and production geologists. He began his career as a district engineer, at Dowell, an oil field services company. In 1979 he joined an EOG predecessor company as a production engineer in the firm’s Sonara offices. Bill also led EOG offices in Midland and Corpus Christi, where he was named Vice President and General Manger in 1988. 

Bill spearheaded EOG’s move to explore horizontal share potential with the development of EOG’s Barnett Shale Play in North Texas and other key resource plays. While baed in Fort Worth, Bill was Executive Vice President and prior to that was Senior Vice President ang General Manager, beginning in June 2004. He moved to the company’s Houston headquarters in February 2011. 

He was named President in September 2011, and President and Chief Executive Officer in June 2013. In January 2014, Bill was named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EOG Resources, Inc. He has been with EOG and its predecessor companies for over 36 years. 

Bill is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologist, the Forth Worth Geological Society and the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association. He is an advocate for EOG’s community charity activities, and Bill and his wife Jane serve on the board of Casa de Esperanza. He is an active church member and is a strong supporter of international relief efforts through Samaritan’s Purse. 

EOG Resources, Inc. is one of the largest independent (non-integrated) crude oil and natural gas companies in the United States with proved reserves in the United States, Canada, Trinidad, the United Kingdom and China. EOG is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and is traded under the ticker symbol “EOG”.  As of 2014, the firm’s net operating revenues was at $18 billion and net income was $2.9 billion. 

Koei Tsuge: Central Japan Railway President

Koei Tsuge joined the now-defunct Japanese National Railways in 1977. In 1987, Japanese National Railways was broken up, into seven railways of which one of them is the Central Japan Railway. Since April 1, 2014, he has been serving as President and Representative Director. Koie’s previous roles include Director of General Affairs, Director of Human Resources, Managing Director and Director of Secretary. 

The company that Koei heads is huge. Central Japan Railway Co. is headquartered in Nagoya, Japan. It has over 28,000 employees and generates sales in excess of $15 billion. 

The company engages in the operation of railways and commercial establishments. It operates through the following segments: Transportation, Merchandise and Other, Real Estate, and Other Services. 

The Transportation segment involves railway business and bus businesses. The Merchandise and Other segment manages department stores and provides sales services of good and food in stations and trains. The Real Estate segment engages in the development of commercial facilities in stations and areas under elevated track columns, and it leases real estates such as station buildings. The Other Services segment manages hotels at major stations, travel businesses and advertising agencies. It also manufactures rolling stock and maintains, inspects and repairs railway facilities. 

Mark Parker: Nike CEO

Mark Parker was born on October 21, 1955, in Poughkeepsie, New York. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science graduating from Penn State University in 1977. Mark ran on the Penn State track and cross country teams. Mark clearly belongs to the world of running and sports. He is married to Kathy Mills Parker and has three grown children. Kathy happens to be a former world record holder in the 5,000 meters. 

His interest with designing shoes lay in his desire to make a better running shoe. This was all part of his goal to trying to have a faster marathon time. He made sketches and created soles and glued them on his Asics to see if they worked. 

After graduating from college he joined Nike in 1979 and was one of the company’s first footwear designers in their R&D facility in Exeter, New Hampshire working in a startup-like environment. Mark became Division Vice President in charge of development in 1987, Corporate Vice President in 1989, General Manager in 1993, and Vice President of Global Footwear in 1998. In March 2001 he became co-president of the Nike brand and would eventually become Vice President of Nike. In 2006 he became the third CEO of Nike.  

Mark led the way for Nike Air and numerous industry-breakthroughs in product design. He is described as having a mild and subtle way of changing an opinion. Mark also deals directly with superstar athletes like Kobe Bryant and Serena Williams. Being a shoe designer at heart he is able to relate to them in the designs of shoes that carry their name. As an athlete himself Mark knows how they feel and what are their needs. He takes to heart a phrase that is important to Nike “Serve the athlete.”

Annual revenue has double at Nike from $15 billion to $30.6 since Mark took over as CEO in 2006. Share price has risen sixfold from $21 in January 2006 to $125 in early October 2015. 

Sergio Marchionne: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV

Sergio Marchionne was born on June 17, 1952, in Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy. When he was 14 years old, he emigrated with his family to Toronto, Canada where they had relatives. Sergio has dual Italian and Canadian citizenship and is fluent in both Italian and English. 

He earned a bachelor of Commerce and an MBA from the University of Windsor in 1979 and 1985 respectively. In 1983 he earned a law degree from the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. Sergio is a Canadian Certified General Accountant (FCGA), barrister, and a fellow of the Certified General Accountants of Ontario. 

He worked as an accountant and tax specialist for Deloitte & Touche in Canada from 1983 to 1985. Sergio was Group Controller and then Director of Corporate Development at the Lawson Group in Toronto. After working with several other companies in senior executive roles he became the CEO of Fiat S.p.A. in May 2003. 

Sergio is widely recognized for turning Fiat back to profitability in 2006 less than two  years after taking charge; he played a key role in also turning Chrysler back into profitability after it emerged from bankruptcy. In August 1, 2014, Fiat and Chrysler merged and Sergio now sits as CEO of Fiat Chrysler automobiles and Chairman of CNH Industrial. 

Steven J. Kean: Kinder Morgan President & CEO

Steven J. Kean earned a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University and a law degree from the University of Iowa. Intending to become a lawyer he instead became a lobbyist and an executive. Steven joined Enron Corp. and climbed the corporate ladder becoming chief of staff for the late Ken Lay, the former CEO of energy company which had a spectacular collapse. He left after the company entered bankruptcy in 2001 and joined Kinder Morgan. Unlike his boss Steven was never criminally charged and his civil case was dropped.

Steven became known at Kinder Morgan as someone good at ironing out details of complex acquisitions. The company bought 3,400 miles of pipeline from Tejas Gas in 2002, more than doubling the mileage gas pipe it has been running through Texas. It was also during this time that Steve was hired by the company as a young executive. 

In a matter of months he was leading the drive to integrate the newly bought pipeline asset into the business of Kinder Morgan. Steven’s work would set the groundwork for the company’s eventual status as the largest natural gas infrastructure operator in North America. It also set him as a front running contender to succeed company co-founder and CEO Richard Kinder. 

He became chief operating officer in January 2006. A few months before that he had joined the company’s executive inner circle when he was included in its Office of the Chairman, a triumvirate that at the time comprised Steven, Richard, and then-president Park Shaper.

Steven had a central and increasingly public leadership role by 2013. It was announced in December 2014 that Steven would succeed Richard Kinder as CEO, this didn’t come as a surprise to anyone. 

Steven is now responsible for developing and executing the company’s vision and strategy and allocating capital to Kinder Morgan business units in a discipline manner. He also coordinates the company’s efforts to achieve operational excellence.

Frédéric Lavenir: CNP Assurances CEO

Frédéric Lavenir was born in 1960. His a graduate of the École de Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) and the Ecole Nationale d’Adminstration (ENA). He is Vice President of the Association for the Right to Economic Initiative (ADIE) of France. Frédéric served as a Finance Inspector from 1986 to 1990. Then he joined the French Treasury, initially as head of banking regulations and then as director of the insurance company office.

Frédéric was appointed Secretary General of the Interministerial Committee for Industrial Restructuring (CIRI) in 1995, then was appointed Deputy Director of the Office of the Minister of Economy and Finance from 1997 to 2000. In early 2001 Frédéric joined BNP Paribas as Chief Operating Officer of BNP Paribas Lease Group and was named the business line’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 2002. In January 2007 he became Head of Human Resources at BNP Paribas and a member of the Executive Committee. 

He became the CEO of CNP Assurances effective September 26, 2012. Both his private and public sector experiences were cited as advantages for CNP Assurances to make Frédéric their CEO. 

CNP Assurances is based in Paris, France and generates annual sales of over $57 billion. 

Emmanuel Faber: Danone CEO

Emmanuel Faber was born on January 22, 1964, and graduated from the prestigious French educational institution, HEC. Emmanuel then embarked in his professional career and began working as a consultant at Bain & Co., later he joined Baring Brothers. 

He joined Legris Industries in 1993, as Chief Administrative and Financial Officer and was promoted in 1996 as Chief Executive Officer. In 1997, Emmanuel joined Danone as Head of Finance, Strategies and Information Systems. IN 2000, he was named a member of the Executive Committee. While Danone was strengthening its management structure in the Asia-Pacific region, Emmanuel was appointed Vice-President for the Asia-Pacific region in charge of the Group’s operational activities. 

Since January 1, 2008, he has been a Deputy General Manager of Danone, responsible for major corporate functions (Finance, Human Resource, etc.) Emmanuel was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors on April 28, 2011. He has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Danone Ecosystem Fund since 2008. Emmanuel has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Livelihoods Fund since December 2011. 

His position came about after the change in Danone’s governance wherein the Chairman and the CEO functions were separated with the Chairman’s duties strengthened. Emmanuel became the CEO effective October 1, 2014.

Danone is a French food processing company that has around 99,927 employees and sales in excess of $20 billion. It operates through the following divisions: French  Dairy Products, Waters, Early life Nutrition, and Medical Nutrition. 

The Dairy Fresh Products division produces and markets yogurts, fermented fresh dairy products, and other specialized fresh daily products. The Waters division is made of the natural waters business along with aqua drinks. The Early Life Nutrition division focuses on specialized foods for babies and young children to complement breast-feeding while always complying with the World Health Organization Code and local laws. It manufactures infant formula, cereal snacks, biscuits and other food products for infants. 

The Medical Nutrition division focuses mainly on people receiving medical treatment, babies afflicted with certain illnesses and frail elderly  people. The Division’s products are designed primarily to treat disease-related to malnutrition by satisfying special food needs. 

Chanda Kochhar: ICIC Bank CEO

Chanda Kochhar was born on November 17, 1961, in Jodhpur, Rajastan, India and raised in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Chanda is a graduate of the St. Angela Sophia School, Jaipur. She then moved to Mumbai and entered Jai Hind College for a Bachelor of Arts degree graduating in 1982. Chanda then proceeded to study cost accountancy at ICWAI. She lated earned a master’s degree in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai. 

Chanda joined the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India in 1984 as a management trained after she finished he master’s degree. She then was sent to ICIC Bank in 1993. Chanda rose through the ranks and eventually became CEO and Managing Director in May 2009. 

She has been acknowledged as doing a fantastic job in leading a transformation of India’s largest private bank which had undergone major setbacks after the 2008 financial crisis. She leads a bank with close to $125 million in assets and has been producing admirable profits.  She has also been praised for using “mobile banking” as a model for low cost expansion.

Ulf Mark Schneider: Fresenius CEO

Ulf Mark Schneider who’s also known as Mark was born in 1965, in Germany.  Academic-wise Mark  has achieved what has basically has to be achieved, from the University of St Gallen, he earned a degree in finance and accounting and a PhD in economics. He also holds an MBA from Harvard. 

Mark began working for Franz Haniel & Cie in 1989. He held a number of senior executive positions then rose to the rank of Group Finance Director for the Coventry-based Gehe UK plc, a pharmaceutical wholesale and retail distributor which is part of the Haniel group, in 1995. 

In November 2001, Mark joined Fresenius as chief financial officer of the Fresenius Medical Care.  On May 28, 2003, less than two years, since joining he became the CEO of the entire group. Mark was the choice of no less than his predecessor Gerd Krick. He was 37 years of age at that time and a relative newcomer to the company. Many were surprised by the decision and Mark himself did not expect it. 

He hasn’t been a disappointment but on the contrary has increased the firm’s revenue and helped expand the company’s global presence. In the first five years of heading the company Mark was able raise sales by 50 percent to $14.5 billion and operating profit by 85 percent to $1.9 billion. In turn the price of share in the company quadrupled. 

He has expanded the firm to a significant extent through acquisition with the objective of strengthening all three of the firm’s major divisions with small and medium purchases. Mark knows the importance of acquiring small and medium companies. Yet he also does big acquisitions like in 2006 when he led the purchase of Renal Care Group Inc and Helios Kliniken GmbH for around $6 billion. Buying Helios Kliniken made Fresenius one of the top three hospital operators in Germany.

Fresenius is a global healthcare group offering high-quality products and services for dialysis, hospitals, and outpatients treatment. It has over 200,000 employees in over 100 countries and annual sales of over €20 billion.