Ambanis up on Forbes richest CEOs list

Ambanis up on Forbes' richest CEOs list

They have lost more than $13 billion from their combined wealth, but still the two Ambani brothers have moved higher on Forbes' latest list of the world's ten richest CEOs, while Sunil Mittal has joined the league and Lakshmi Mittal has slipped two places.
Legendary American investor Warren Buffett has retained his top position on the annual list, but Indian-born steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal has been toppled from his last year's second position by software major Oracle chief Larry Ellison.
Mittal has moved down to fourth position, while Mukesh Ambani, the elder of the two warring brothers, has jumped three positions to grab third rank this year.
The younger Ambani, Anil, has also moved up one place to sixth rank on this year's 'Forbes list of ten wealthiest CEOs'.
While another Indian business chief, Azim Premji, has moved out of the top-ten list, compatriot Sunil Mittal of Bharti Airtel [Get Quote] has joined the league at ninth position.
IT major Wipro [Get Quote] Chairman Premji was ranked ninth on the previous year's list. The total number of Indians on the list has remained unchanged at four on this year's list.

"Being a CEO isn't what it used to be. Crackdowns on corporate frills like private jets and over-the-top offices have become the norm, taking some of the fun -- but none of the stress -- out of running billion-dollar businesses," Forbes said.
"While some chief executives' jobs may be in peril, these 10 have stuck it out long enough to partake in what's left of the global economy. These have made our annual list of the world's wealthiest CEOs," it added.
About India's presence on the list, Forbes said there are four Indians on its list this year: "two industrialists, Mukesh Ambani and Lakshmi Mittal; and two telecom tycoons, Anil Ambani and Sunil Mittal."
"(The) Ambani brothers owe their hefty fortunes, in part, to inheritance. Following their father's death in 2002, they took over his industrial empire . . . and attempted to run it together.
"The collaboration soon soured. After coming to blows over who ran the company, the two reached a bitter compromise, deciding that they and the company would best be served by spinning off and divvying up its various businesses.
"Today Mukesh runs petrochemicals giant Reliance Industries Ltd [Get Quote], while Anil oversees an array of companies including Reliance Communications [Get Quote], a phone and Internet outfit with 60 million customers," it added.
The magazine said that its list of the world's wealthiest CEOs was based on analysis of their financial stakes in firms controlled by them, as on January 23.

Buffett has been ranked first with $35.9 billion worth of shareholding, it said, adding that "there are not many people who can lose $25 billion in four months and still top the list of the world's wealthiest CEOs."
Oracle's Ellison has been ranked second with $19.7 billion, followed by Mukesh Ambani ($16.8 billion), Lakshmi Mittal ($13.2 billion), luxury goods major LVMH's Bernard Arnault ($12.2 billion), Anil Ambani ($nine billion), Arabian bank Mashreq's Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair ($7 billion), and Microsoft's Steve Ballmer ($7 billion).
Sunil Mittal ($6.9 billion) and Japanese fashion retail major Fast Retailing's Tadashi Yanai ($6 billion) follow.
"We estimated ownership by sifting through each company's most recent financial filings and, where information was not readily available, talking to industry sources," Forbes said, adding that both CEOs and managing directors of public companies across the world were considered for the list.
About Mukesh Ambani, the report said he made it to third position despite a 62 per cent plunge in the shares of his group's flagship firm RIL since January last year.
On Lakshmi Mittal, it said that the 58-year-old has consistently ranked among the top five wealthiest people in the world, but his public holdings of ArcelorMittal took a dive in the second half of 2008, falling 73 per cent since June.
About Anil Ambani, the report said that "in the four years since a spat with older brother Mukesh led to the break-up of their family's assets, Anil, the younger of the two, has grown his telecom, energy and infrastructure businesses apace--only to see his shares decimated by the global economic slowdown."

Source:Rediff.com

Top 20 Best Companies to Work For

Top 20 Best Companies to Work For

You would still expect Google or Microsoft to be the best technology company to work for. But wait a minute, you have a surprise coming. These super dads have been displaced by storage and data management services provider NetApp. NetApp (Previous rank: 14) has been ranked as the best tech company by Fortune in its annual list of '100 Best Companies to Work For'. Google, in fact, has dropped to No 4 this year. The company had topped the list for the past two years. If it is "employee enthusiasm for the legendary egalitarian culture," then, according to Fortune, NetApp takes the cake after six years on the list. Here is a list of how companies are ranked by Fortune according to the satisfaction levels of the employees working with them.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshowpics/4075785.cms
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World's 10 best companies to work for
Happy employees are motivated employees and a huge contributing factor to any company's success. No wonder then, the top 10 great companies to work for -- as listed by Fortune magazine and the Great Place to Work Institute -- also do well when it comes to profitability.
Note: Market cap as on January 28, 2009
Company: NetApp
Rank: 1
Chairman, CEO: Dan Warmenhoven
Business: Specialises in proprietary network storage and data management.
Reach: Has over 130 offices worldwide, including US, Canada, Europe, South America, Asia, Pacific and Australia.
Market cap: $5.37 billion
Why: Greatplacetowork.com says, 'The essence of what fuels the quality of the workplace at NetApp is the high trust culture. Leaders reach out to employees, sharing information, support and time in a variety of ways. This generosity of spirit is reciprocated many times over, creating within NetApp its own version of a fail-safe networked organisation.'
Image: NetApp Chairman and CEO Dan Warmenhoven Photograph: netapp.com

Company: Edward Jones
Rank: 2
Managing partner: James D Weddle
Business: Offers financial products at an individual investor level. Currently serves more than 7 million clients.
Reach: Over 10,800 offices in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom
2007 revenue: $4.14 billion Total assets: $5,576,196-->
Why: Greatplacetowork.com says, 'Employees receive a whopping 149 hours of training on average a year, more than three times the 100 best average of 45. But Edward Jones doesn't just train people for the job they're doing. The management's philosophy is that employees who are passionate about their jobs will make the company a better place, so managers encourage people to develop skills even when they know the new skills will lead to a different job.'

More@http://specials.rediff.com/money/2009/feb/02slide2-best-companies-to-work-for.htm

Source:ET,Rediff.com