Apple's Steve Jobs named MarketWatch 'CEO of the Decade'
Calling him the "rock star of corporate America," Steve Jobs was named "CEO of the Decade" by MarketWatch for his tremendous success as Apple's chief executive.
Heralded as one of the greatest comeback stories in business history, Jobs' ascension brought his company from the brink of bankruptcy to Silicon Valley's biggest success story. The profile notes that investors who put $1,000 into Apple stock at the end of 2000 would have seen it grow to nearly $43,000 today.
Jobs is also credited for "almost single-handedly" saving the recording industry with the iPod and iTunes. The profile also compares him to great inventors like Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as the visionary Walt Disney.
"He revolutionized handheld devices and touch-screen technology with the iPhone," author Russ Britt wrote. "And he may well usher in a post-PC era of computing with his latest gadget, the iPad."
It's been a tremendous surge to the top for Apple, which was worth about $5 billion in 2000. In May, the Cupertino, Calif., company's market capitalization exceeded Microsoft, making it the second largest American company. Apple's market cap of $291.9 billion still has a long ways to go to catch Exxon, though, which is worth $360.3 billion.
In being named the MarketWatch CEO of the Decade, Jobs edged out a few of his rivals in the tech industry. Among the runners up were Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, and Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Other finalists were Starbucks CEO and Howard Schultz, and Tim Solso of Cummins.
An illustration of the MarketWatch CEO of the Decade finalists, led by Steve Jobs.
Jobs did not, however, win the publication's "CEO of the Year" honors. Alan Mulally of Ford was named the top chief executive for 2010.
This week's announcement marks the second time that Jobs has been granted the title "CEO of the Decade." In 2009, that honor was bestowed on him by Fortune, which referred to him as a "showman, a born salesman, a magician who creates a famed reality-distortion field, [and] a tyrannical perfectionist."
Heralded as one of the greatest comeback stories in business history, Jobs' ascension brought his company from the brink of bankruptcy to Silicon Valley's biggest success story. The profile notes that investors who put $1,000 into Apple stock at the end of 2000 would have seen it grow to nearly $43,000 today.
Jobs is also credited for "almost single-handedly" saving the recording industry with the iPod and iTunes. The profile also compares him to great inventors like Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as the visionary Walt Disney.
"He revolutionized handheld devices and touch-screen technology with the iPhone," author Russ Britt wrote. "And he may well usher in a post-PC era of computing with his latest gadget, the iPad."
It's been a tremendous surge to the top for Apple, which was worth about $5 billion in 2000. In May, the Cupertino, Calif., company's market capitalization exceeded Microsoft, making it the second largest American company. Apple's market cap of $291.9 billion still has a long ways to go to catch Exxon, though, which is worth $360.3 billion.
In being named the MarketWatch CEO of the Decade, Jobs edged out a few of his rivals in the tech industry. Among the runners up were Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, and Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Other finalists were Starbucks CEO and Howard Schultz, and Tim Solso of Cummins.
An illustration of the MarketWatch CEO of the Decade finalists, led by Steve Jobs.
Jobs did not, however, win the publication's "CEO of the Year" honors. Alan Mulally of Ford was named the top chief executive for 2010.
This week's announcement marks the second time that Jobs has been granted the title "CEO of the Decade." In 2009, that honor was bestowed on him by Fortune, which referred to him as a "showman, a born salesman, a magician who creates a famed reality-distortion field, [and] a tyrannical perfectionist."
Comments
I think that his deserving of this award becomes even more apparent when we see who the runners up are. Those guys are total hacks compared to Jobs.
I agree...Some of them should not be in the same status...no questions
I am curious as to how all the Apple and SJ haters will respond to this announcement. Even if you hate the man and the company, I'm not sure how someone doesn't recognize just how brilliant he handled Apple's comeback.
I think it's good when people like Steve get a bit of recognition. Too often such people are jeered at all their lives, and it's only after they're gone that people realise how great they were. 3 cheers for Steve Jobs.
Great point. The man has passion, vision, drive and perseverance: "Genius is divine perseverance". -Woodrow T. Wilson. All things required to accomplish what he and Apple have accomplished. I have no problem saying that Apple products have drastically changed my life for the better. I would argue that they lave altered the lives of almost everyone around me directly or indirectly. The Iphone and ipad are every bit the revolutionary products they claim to be. Still not so sure about "magical" though
--------- CEO of the decade, clearly. ----------
Sincerely,
AAPL shareholder & Apple customer
Yet he is hated, castigated, and villified daily by numerous posters on this supposedly Apple centric web site.
The haters are bitter they didn't buy AAPL in the past five years. Heck, they could have bought at $240 earlier this year and made 30%.
Anyways, love him or hate him, one can't deny what he's accomplished.
What SJ did with Apple in just over 10 years is nothing short of amazing. The wild part is the direction of the company was, pretty much all Steve's vision. Not only did he take a company that was just about bust and turn it into the 2nd most valuable company on the planet, but there is still more to come. Not sure of many companies out there, right now, bring so much excitement (and hatred) when a new or upgraded product is sniffed by the public.
I am curious as to how all the Apple and SJ haters will respond to this announcement. Even if you hate the man and the company, I'm not sure how someone doesn't recognize just how brilliant he handled Apple's comeback.
And he has accomplished much of that in the worst worldwide recession since the Great Depression. Who would have thought that Apple, whose products are frequently criticized as too expensive, would do so well during such tough economic times? I'm a big fan of Apple (in spite of their arrogance) and even I thought they were really going to get hurt. If the economy had been better, I think Apple's market cap actually would have exceeded Exxon/Mobil's by now.
And I think the best is yet to come. The size of the new campus implies to me that Apple intends to enter new businesses. Otherwise, why would they need space 3x the size of the current campus?
The biggest question for Apple's future remains, IMO, around succession planning.
The biggest question for Apple's future remains, IMO, around succession planning.
If everything runs good, Steve can be for the next 10 year a CEO of the year. So they hope there is time...
Yet he is hated, castigated, and villified daily by numerous posters on this supposedly Apple centric web site.
Why- because he's a liar, thief and the stingiest billionaire ever?
We love Apple- doesn't mean we need to love Steve Jobs and be devoted cultists.
It only seems like yesterday that we were using OS 9 and IE on our G3 Mac's.
I do hope Steve treads carefully, iOS isn't as engaging a experience as OS X is.
OS X allows one to grow in computer savvy experience due to it's open nature, iOS doesn't and just acts like a appliance.
There is no reason why the two can't coexist of course, just there is a fear one will displace the other as too many people opt for the less expensive iOS device without realizing the immense benefit a real open computer can be at their disposal.
Why- because he's a liar, thief and the stingiest billionaire ever?
We love Apple- doesn't mean we need to love Steve Jobs and be devoted cultists.
How is he a liar, outside of the usual PR spin all CEOs involve themselves in? If this is in relation to his daughter, you're digging 25 years back. I'm assuming the thief comment is aimed in the direction of Xerox Parc, when it is well established that Apple was not in the wrong and that the direction they took the Mac OS was very different from where Parc was headed.
As to the stingy billionaire, well it's his money to give away or be Scrooge McDuck and swim in it. Maybe he works thru entirely anonymous means so no one knows. Some people give b/c they want to, some do it b/c it looks good in a PR sense. Steve seems to just ignore it all. Whether he donates or not, I have no way of knowing and unless you do his taxes, I don't think you do either.
I'm pretty much playing devil's advocate here as I don't own any Apple products or stock, so his continued performance doesn't impact my life in any way. Just see lots of invective thrown around w/no justification.
Yet he is hated, castigated, and villified daily by numerous posters on this supposedly Apple centric web site.
Much of that can be ignored because it's just trolling.
However, while I greatly admire what he has accomplished, I'm not naive about the downsides to the guy. He really does seem to be a narcissist and at times extraordinarily unkind to people who he deems inferior in some way. I wish he were a nicer guy, and I don't think that being a nicer guy would have stopped him from being successful. But there's no question that he has been remarkably successful and that he has achieved his goal of changing the world (and in my opinion, in a very good way) multiple times over the course of his career.
So I guess he's a narcissist and sometimes a jerk, but a highly productive narcissist. When we sum up his life, the benefits generated by Steve Jobs far outweigh the costs.
I think it's good when people like Steve get a bit of recognition. Too often such people are jeered at all their lives, and it's only after they're gone that people realise how great they were. 3 cheers for Steve Jobs.
Which such people have been jeered at all their lives? Who did you have in mind?
I don't own any Apple products or stock
Then how can you be objective?
Then how can you be objective?
It's b/c I don't own any that I can be. If I owned the products or stock, my opinion would be colored. You have the meaning backwards.