The best IT heads in the world 2005 - Part I

Behind each group's success, there is a shadow of at least one "weak". Their decisions and strategies can sometimes change the world technology. Portrait of BusinessWeek Online's most talented technology leaders.

1. Steve Jobs (Apple, Pixar)

Nobody, please emphasize that no one in the technology kingdom, has a great year with this CEO of Apple Computer. "Apple" continues to be the successful leader of the trendiest fashion trends of 2005, equal to products like iPod nano or iPod video. That's not to mention the Mac mini, the cheapest PC ever released by Apple.

Indeed, there is no "weak" to fire two hands like a good one with Jobs. Apple has succeeded, Pixar animation studio run by Jobs also stormed Hollywood with super products like "Finding Nemo" or "Incredibles Superman Family".

This explains why Jobs could convince Disney to agree to offer hit TV shows like Lost on an iPod video. Disney wants to expand relations with Pixar, the best animation studio today, and also because iPod is too "hot". 10 million apple music players are expected to sell out this quarter. Its share price will double compared to January 1, 2005, to 73 USD.

2. Terry Semel (Yahoo!)

2005 is a not so big year for Yahoo! on Wall Street, as well as for its chief executive Terry S.Semel. Shares of Yahoo! It fluctuates around $ 40, an increase of 6% compared to the beginning of the year, while Google rival shares more than doubled, reaching over $ 400.

But working under the shadow of Yahoo !, the world's hottest technology firm, always has its advantages. Semel and his colleagues were diligent and quietly built one of the most diverse business models of the "Internet" village. They sell everything from flashing on-screen ads to search results, from paid digital music services to high-speed Internet access. Yahoo! like a boiling hot pot, with sales up to 42% this year, reaching $ 3.7 billion.

With no ambition, Yahoo is also jumping into telecommunications, competing with Skype and joining hands with Verizon Communications to sell high-speed network access packages. The recruitment of a series of talent in search programming over the past year has signaled that the Yahoo-Google battle next year will be as hot as never before.

3. Kim Shin Bae - SK Telecom

In a country where almost 15-year-olds already have at least one mobile phone, it's hard for mobile carriers to maintain growth. But since Kim Shin Bae became the director of Korea's largest mobile network (March 2004), SK Telecom has boldly ventured into new businesses and enjoyed revenue growth . 2 numbers.

What is Kim's secret? Very simply, when "voice" is saturated, focus on data and content.

Kim, 51, has launched an "online music store" with about 500,000 subscribers, using satellites to broadcast television programs to another 300,000 subscribers' phone screens and activating an Internet portal cord. It offers all trendy multimedia services such as on-demand video, online games and RSS. Next year, SK's network will continue to be upgraded to higher speeds to cater for videos, games, graphics and bandwidth-consuming content.

And yet, SK will continue to go abroad, through a joint venture with US-based EarthLink worth $ 440 million. In addition, SK has invested heavily in S-Fone network of Vietnam.

4. Jeffrey Immelt - General Electric

According to Jeff Immelt, the definition of a dream company is: to stay ahead of the technology, to move forward and to achieve revenue of more than $ 160 billion. General Electric's 49-year-old chief executive asked his employees to "recklessly" propose a "new three" range of products and services: opening new markets, developing new technologies and spreading awake new customers.

GE's current products rely more on biotechnology and wind power instead of old-fashioned bulbs and microwaves. In addition, Immelt's strategy is to focus on emerging markets like China.

5. Edward Zander (Motorola)

When Edward came to life at Motorola in 2004, the ultra-thin Razr phone was in the lab. But it was under Zander's witch's hand that Rarz was truly pregnant, becoming a "blockbuster" and contributing to the resurgence of a culture called Motorola.

Zander, now 58, blew into the lumbering Motorola machine in a rushing, rushing, unprecedented spirit. Not only did Rarz ultimately attack the market, but more than 100 million phones with other M-shaped logos also jumped into consumers' hands in 2005. Motorola's market share increased from 13.5% in the third quarter of 2004. - the time when Razr started launching, nearly 19% in the same period this year. "It's like a hit single that forces people to buy the album," Zander said. "But we still need more."

To continue to release such rankings, Zander (In Motorola's Razrwire cum cellphone), emphasizes the need for close cooperation and tireless customer care. . In the past, the parts "who knew their bodies", "the lights of the house, the house were bright" and the consumers were always classified as secondary. But now Motorola has changed its outlook and consumers around the world have noticed it.

6. Richard Parsons: (Time Warner)

As CEO of Time Warner, Richard.D Parsons has done something almost miraculous: Its stock price has almost reached the level of 3 years ago, when he came to power. Knowing that, after the crisis merger with AOL in 2001, Time Warner's stock price fell free. But for the most part in 2005, Parsons gradually pulled the business of the world's largest media company back into orbit.

Parsons definitively addressed each of Time Warner's headaches, from paying down debt, selling off inefficient business units to neatly settling federal investigations and shareholders' lawsuits. .

Along with the leaked news that many giants like Microsoft, Google and Comcast are all questioning Time Warner to buy a stake in AOL, it looks like Parsons is about to successfully remove the last "monster" in the Empire his regime. If Parsons could make the stock price go up, all the biggest critics would have no excuse to open their mouths.

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