Monday, February 16, 2009

~~World's 9 richest CEOs~~

1. Warren Buffett

Net worth: $52 billion

Designation: Chairman and chief executive, Berkshire Hathaway

Profile: Buffett tops this list. While he's chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, he leaves the running of the holding company's subsidiaries to their own executives. Those subsidiaries include big insurers like Geico and General Re, as well as an mix of other companies like Benjamin Moore Paints, See's Candies and Fruit Of The Loom.

2. Lakshmi Mittal

Net worth: $32 billion

Designation: Chairman and chief executive, ArcelorMittal

Profile: This Indian steel titan is head of ArcelorMittal, the world's leading steelmaker by output. Mittal is the fifth-richest person in the world, according to Forbes' annual billionaires list, released last March.

3. Sheldon Adelson

Net worth: $28 billion

Designation: Chairman and chief executive, Las Vegas Sands

Profile: Adelson made his fortune in trade shows, the best known of which was the annual computer industry confab 'Comdex'. In 1995, he sold his trade show business to Softbank of Japan for around $860 million. He purchased the landmark Sands Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in 1989 and later imploded it to make way for the construction of the luxurious Venetian Resort Hotel Casino. He is also investing billions in casino projects in Macau.

4. Bernard Arnault

Net worth: $26 billion

Designation: Chairman and chief executive of the LVMH Group

Profile: LVMH is a veritable empire of luxury brands: Louis Vuitton, Dom Perignon, Moet Hennessy, Dior, Tag Heuer, Givenchy and more.

5. Lawrence Ellison

Net worth: $26 billion

Designation: Chief executive of Oracle

Under Ellison's leadership, Oracle has been on an aggressive buying spree of late.

6. Mukesh Ambani

Net worth: $20.1 billion

Designation: Chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries

Profile: Ambani fulfills the duties of CEO at his company, even though he doesn't carry the title. He is the son of the late Dhirubhai Ambani, the legendary founder of Reliance Industries. A few years after Dhirubhai's death in 2002, his sons split the family fortune, with Mukesh retaining Reliance Industries and Reliance Petroleum.

7. Anil Ambani

Net worth: $18.2 billion

Designation: Chairman of Reliance ADA

Profile: Like his brother Mukesh, Anil doesn't call himself chief executive, even though he shares the duties of a CEO with two other executives at Reliance ADA. A few years after the death of their father Dhirubhai Ambani, Anil took over the family's telecom, finance and power businesses.

8. Michael Dell

Net worth: $17.2 billion

Designation: Chairman and chief executive, Dell

Profile: Dell stepped down as CEO in 2004 to make way for his chief lieutenant, then-Dell president and chief operating officer Kevin Rollins. But the company struggled under Rollins, missing Wall Street earnings estimates and eventually losing its perch atop the PC market to Hewlett-Packard. Dell retook the reins in January of last year.

9. Azim Premji

Net worth: $17.1 billion

Designation: Chairman, Wipro

Profile: Like the Ambani brothers, Premji doesn't hold the title of CEO, but effectively acts like one. His company, Wipro, is one of India's largest IT companies.