New York Twenty-five leaders have been named to TIME magazine and CNNs annual list of Global Business Influentials including change artist Ed Breen, CEO of Tyco, New York, who is not planning any toga parties: If we lost our focus, that would be terrible, he tells TIME.
Another Global Influential is Sinan Al-Shabibi, Governor, Central Bank of Iraq, Baghdad, who risks being kidnapped going to work in Baghdad each day. If I told you that sort of thing doesnt worry me, I would not be telling the truth, he tells TIMEs Aparisimi Ghosh. The insurgents make my job more, shall we say, interesting, he tells TIME.
Eight of the 25 are in New York (see list below). Among the 25 are GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt, Sean Combs of Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group, Judy McGrath of MTV, Ann Fudge of Young & Rubicam, Chuck Prince of Citigroup, Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase and Vivek Paul of Wipro Technologies.
How were they selected? In the postscandal era, it takes innovation and guts to clean house and build a thriving global business, and these are the business influentials who are setting the new standard, according to TIMEs Business Editor Dorinda Elliott.
In his 2.5 year push to reform Tyco, CEO Ed Breen has pulled off feats that would have made lesser CEOs quake in their wingtips, TIME business writer Jyoti Thottam writes in a profile of Breen. He persuaded the entire board of directors of the disgraced company to resign, fired almost all its top corporate managers and faced down an $11 billion debt when he had no cash to spare. Its stock has risen 25% since January, and in this fiscal year Tyco has generated $4.8 billion in cash and $2.9 billion in profits while slashing its debt by $4.4 billion, TIME reports.
The full list of Global Business Influentials appears in the coming weeks issue of TIME (issue dated Dec. 20). The list will be published on TIME.com at 6pm on Sunday, Dec. 12.
The 2004 Global Business Influentials, in six categories: Innovators, Clean-Up Artists, Globalists, Money Movers, Change Artists and Profit Drivers.
Innovators:
Sean Combs, Bad Boy Entertainment Group, New York Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of GE, New York Balaji Krishnamurthy, CEO of Planar Systems, Beaverton, Oregon Pony Ma, Founder and CEO of Tencent Group, Hong Kong Sheik Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai
Clean-Up Artists:
Ed Breen, CEO of Tyco, New York, is not planning any toga parties: If we lost our focus, that would be terrible, he tellsTIME. Sinan Al-Shabibi, Central Bank of Iraq, Baghdad. The insurgents make my job more, shall we say, interesting, he tells TIME. Jeroen Van Der Veer, Royal Dutch Shell, London/The Hague Serge Weinberg, Pinault-Prentemps-Redoute, Paris
Globalists
Li Dongsheng, Chairman of TCL, Beijing Sam Jonah, Ashanti Goldfields, Ghana Vivek Paul, CEO of Wipro Technologies, Mountain View, California Judy McGrath, Chairman and CEO, MTV Networks, New York
Money Movers
Mellody Hobson, Ariel Capital Management, Chicago Chuck Prince, CEO of Citigroup, New York Jamie Dimon, TK of JP Morgan Chase, New York John Thain, CEO of New York Stock Exchange, New York
Change Agents
Ann Fudge, CEO of Young & Rubicam, New York Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Culver City, California Suh Doo Chil, Eastel Systems, Seoul Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull, Fuschl, Austria
Profit Drivers
Wolfgang Bernhard, Volkswagen, Wolfsburg, Germany Ana Patricia Botin, Banco Espanol deCreditor, Madrid Masamoti Yashiro, Shinsei Bank, Tokyo Gunter Thielen, Betelsmann, Guetersloh Germany
Contact: Diana_Pearson@timeinc.com, 212-522-0833