What Companies/CEOs do you admire?

I'll pick Youtube. Innovative in terms of how we use our computers, and it's pretty fun to use.

 

Google bought YouTube a few years ago.

 

Company
Tom Hortons, Netflix and Sheetz ... Love 'em.

CEO's
Jeff Bezos, Amazon
Fred Smith, Founder and CEO of Fed Ex


Postumously (food division)... The late Co. Harlan Sanders and Dave Thomas

 

I'll second Chick-Fil-A.

 

Although real estate mogul A. Alfred Taubman did jail time stemming from a price-fixing scandal while he owned Sotheby's, his memoirs "Threshold Resistance" is one of my all-time favorite business books. It is quite amusing (including the passages dealing with his jail time) and shows why he was a dedicated educational philanthropist. And he owned a USFL championship team!

Dr. James H. Clark a one-time Stanford professor escaped a difficult Texas childhood, joined the navy and discovered there his aptitude for electronics. He founded Silicon Graphics, a high-end computer co. that supplied the machines that animated Jurassic Park. He co-founded Netscape and the company that became WebMD. Then, in his 60s married an Australian swimsuit model.

 

Mike B. . . . but as a businessman, not as a mayor.

 

Then good job for the guys who invented it.

 

I love everything about Southwest Airlines except actually using its product.

 

I'd pretty much agree with you.

Though, I've got to say, one-on-one, Bloomberg is incredibly gracious & humble. He's way normal in a way Rudy never was.

Rudy would be surrounded by an entourage of cops, aides, coat holders, etc. They'd sweep into and out of rooms.

Bloomberg travels with one cop and one aide. He's much more approachable.

 

Herb Kelleher, Southwest's Founder and previous (longtime) CEO is legendary in the airline business.

He made something out of nothing in a very tough business -- fighting AA and government regulations the whole way.

We is/was loved by his employees and made a lot of them very wealthy.

 

I have used their product here in Cal. for the past 15 years and their product is very efficient for what they are shooting for. They are on time the vast majority of the time and the prices seem fair for what you get. Its not 1st Class on Singapore Airlines but then again they are relatively short flights and you're not paying those prices.

 

Jack Welch was the gold standard of CEO's
Have always admired Bill Gates, Fred Smith and Vince McMahon.
As far as new CEO's to watch, Paul Levesque is someone to watch.
What he has done in his short time is pretty amazing.

It's funny how admired Jobs is by the elite.. Certainly he has provided amazing leadership for Apple but there is a bit of disconnect in a few areas.

Unlike Gates and Buffet, Jobs has shown little interest in philanthropy.

As a company Apple keeps more money off shore than any other US company. I believe the number that I recently read was 70 billion. All to escape US taxes.