The Zicklin Defines a Decade Series started by asking the Baruch College Zicklin School of Business community what are the top five business/organizations that defined the 2000s. We end the series by asking the community to identify the top five people that define the decade in business.
As we entered the decade, many continued to be amazed at the incredible wealth that Bill Gates was continuing to amass. As we leave the decade, we are amazed at how he is giving it away. In 2000, we were two years removed from the repeal of Glass-Steagall and Sandy Weill was creating the great global banking supermarket in CitiGroup. As we enter 2010, Citi has had multiple leaders since Mr. Weill and many are questioning the decision that created the banking supermarket. In May of 2001, the BusinessWeek cover praised Dennis Kozlowski, then CEO of Tyco. He is currently serving up to 24 years in prison. And then of course there are the two Stanford graduate students who created the preeminent search engine and a verb to go along with it. Did anyone Google anything in 2000?
The 2000s were shaped by many people. Some who dominated the headlines 10 years ago still do so today, albeit in a much different capacity. And, there were others who were relatively unknown ten years ago, but who are now shaping the way we do business. The following are proposed by members of the Zicklin community as the shapers of the decade in business. The lists are both global and distinctive with only Steve Jobs on all four.
John Elliott, Dean Zicklin School of Business
1. Warren Buffet
2. Steve Jobs
3. Sergey Brin, Larry Page, and Eric Schmidt
4. Lakshmi Mittal
5. Ratan Tata
Jason Cohen, Full-time Honors MBA Class of 2007
1. The Consumer
2. Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt
3. Steve Jobs
4. Jeff Bezos
5. Hank Paulson
Kishore Tandon, Department Chair Economics/Finance
1. Sergey Brin, Larry Page
2. Steve Jobs
3. Warren Buffet
4. Richard Branson
5. Ambani Brothers (Reliance, India)
Ashok Kamal, Full-time Honors MBA Class of 2010
1) Bill Gates – advocate of capitalism 2.0 who transitioned from leading one of the world’s most successful companies to heading the world’s largest philanthropic foundation
2) Muhammad Yunus – micofinance pioneer and Nobel Peace Prize winner as the founder of Grameen Bank, Yunus is at the forefront of social business in the 21st century
3) Steve Jobs – the king of innovative consumer products and cult hero for one of the world’s most revered brands
4) Ratan Tata – engineered the Tata Group’s growth from India’s most storied industrial company to one of the world’s most diversified conglomerates
5) Dr. Shi Zhengrong – visionary founder and CEO of Suntech, the world’s largest solar energy company
