Steve Jobs Named World's Best-Performing CEO by Harvard Business Review

[Consultant]

His departure from Apple was more to do with personal disagreements with the board of directors rather than any creative differences, so I've been led to believe. Apple was performing fairly badly at the time they fired him, and Job's certainly didn't make a fortune out of NeXT, (they lost a lot of money on the hardware) in fact I'd say it was only Apple's purchase of NeXT that made it a success. Of course this paid off in the long run, and led to the creation of OS X.

Here is the disagreement:
Steve wanted to invest money into Mac OS to integrate Unix foundation.
Board don't see why people would need make Mac OS unix.

NeXT was under contract to not to compete with Apple, so NeXT can only sell to very small number of customers. In addition, NeXT was ahead of its time technically. Result, OS X is delivered 10 years later after Steve was back at Apple.

As I said, Steve owning pixar resulted in the modern apple. I wrote an article on Pixar on my site.

 

[aristotle]

It is interesting to see how many in the top 20 do not have MBAs. A degree can provide you with additional skills but great leadership takes qualities that you cannot learn in a classroom. They come from life experience in the real world and innate personality traits.

Also, Kdarling does not disappoint with the usual "anything but apple" attitude.

 

[Works4Me]

Strange they didn't pick, oh, Michael Dell? (sarcasm). He of the "Sell the company and give the money to the shareholders" comment.

 

[kdarling]

Also, Kdarling does not disappoint with the usual "anything but apple" attitude.

No, more like a "why leave off the older guys?" attitude... being an older guy myself.

But after all, who would pay attention if someone like Buffet got such an award again? No new younger readership that way.

 

[charliehustle]

No, more like a "why leave off the older guys?" attitude... being an older guy myself.

But after all, who would pay attention if someone like Buffet got such an award again? No new younger readership that way.

just looking at Bill Gates, He's put a extra $100 Billion in market cap compared to apple..

 

[ArrowSmith]

Did Bill Gates ever create anything or be innovative? All I recall is that he stole some CP/M, did a mild rewrite and sold it as MS-DOS. The rest his history.

 

[LagunaSol]

Strange... the report didn't even explain why they arbitrarily picked 1995 as the cut-off year.

Was it so their favorite CEOs could float to the top?

Or would it have all turned out the same way? If so, why not include the older guys?

Which year would you have suggested? Probably a year that would allow your favorite CEO to float to the top? Perhaps?

And Harvard Business Review can't stop you from putting "Bill Gates: BEST CEO EVAH!" on your Microsoft fan club t-shirts. So why the angst?

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Strange... the report didn't even explain why they arbitrarily picked 1995 as the cut-off year.

Was it so their favorite CEOs could float to the top?

Or would it have all turned out the same way? If so, why not include the older guys?

Yun Jong-Yong is without a doubt one of the top CEO's. Samsung does everything from make Micro-circuitry to Tower 1 of the Kuala Lampur Towers.

 

[remorley]

Nice job Jobs!

Good for Steve.

 

[LagunaSol]

Can I nominate Steve Ballmer for World's Sweatiest CEO?

If that's not a category, it should be. I mean "Best-Performing?" Really? Whoop de doo. Anybody can do that. How about Loudest CEO? CEO With the Best Stage Dance Moves? CEO That Most Closely Resembles Uncle Fester?

More categories please, Harvard Business Review.

 

[MattBaker]

Oh?

Did Bill Gates ever create anything or be innovative? All I recall is that he stole some CP/M, did a mild rewrite and sold it as MS-DOS. The rest his history.

Help me out here: Which part of your statement is supposed to connect to the truth?

 

[JAT]

Did Bill Gates ever create anything or be innovative? All I recall is that he stole some CP/M, did a mild rewrite and sold it as MS-DOS. The rest his history.

Much as he annoys me, this is about creating and growing a company, not a product. The history of the company M$ speaks for itself.

 

[Bubba Satori]

Did Bill Gates ever create anything or be innovative? All I recall is that he stole some CP/M, did a mild rewrite and sold it as MS-DOS. The rest his history.

1. The affordable personal computer industry.
2. 10s of billions in health and education philanthropy.
3. Thousands of companies that sprang up to service the PC industry
4. 10s of millions of pc related jobs over the last 30 years.



Did your school susbstitute self esteem classes for economics classes like so many have over the last generation? Nevermind, we already know.

 

[kdarling]

Did Bill Gates ever create anything or be innovative? All I recall is that he stole some CP/M, did a mild rewrite and sold it as MS-DOS. The rest his history.

Bill Gates at least was a programmer.

Jobs is a great salesman, and good at choosing people who can innovate, but he's not really a creator himself.

Which year would you have suggested? Probably a year that would allow your favorite CEO to float to the top? Perhaps?

I don't have a favorite CEO. I'm just wondering why they didn't pick, say, Best CEO of the past 10 years, or 20, or 15, or some number that makes sense. Heck, even if they simply said their database to copy/paste from only went back to 1995, that'd make sense too!

And Harvard Business Review can't stop you from putting "Bill Gates: BEST CEO EVAH!" on your Microsoft fan club t-shirts. So why the angst?

Seriously, how old are you?

 

[maclancer]

Ah how I love Jobs. I'm scared to know where Apple would be at if he hadn't returned in '97.

If he didn't return in 1997 and save the company from bankruptcy, Apple probably will be dead by now...

 

[*LTD*]

1. The affordable personal computer industry.
2. 10s of billions in health and education philanthropy.
3. Thousands of companies that sprang up to service the PC industry
4. 10s of millions of pc related jobs over the last 30 years.



Did your school susbstitute self esteem classes for economics classes like so many have over the last generation? Nevermind, we already know.

1. There had to be a personal computer industry to begin with. Thank Apple.
2. Giving to good causes is not innovative, but BG did create his own foundation, yes.
3. 10s of millions of IT jobs over the last 30 years. Yes, an entire industry has grown up around fixing Winblows. Not very innovative, but the jobs were created, no doubt about that.

 

[MorphingDragon]

Bill Gates at least was a programmer.

So SJ being one of the main guys behind NeXT know nothin about computers.

 

[LagunaSol]

3. Thousands of companies that sprang up to service the PC industry

Yes, thank you Bill Gates for creating the millions of IT jobs necessary to support your crummy software, the opportunity for career specialization in creating websites that display correctly in IE6, and endless possibility in the spyware/malware industries (both creation and removal).

Now if only he'd introduce those moist and chewy computers he's been promising...

 

[DMann]

Can I nominate Steve Ballmer for World's Sweatiest CEO?

If that's not a category, it should be. I mean "Best-Performing?" Really? Whoop de doo. Anybody can do that. How about Loudest CEO? CEO With the Best Stage Dance Moves? CEO That Most Closely Resembles Uncle Fester?

More categories please, Harvard Business Review.

Ballmer:

The World's Sweatiest CEO

The World's Loudest CEO

The CEO With the Most Primal Dance Moves

The Most Unworthy CEO

However, Uncle Fester, who was played by Jackie Coogan, would be in a completely different league:

Any comparisons made between Coogan and Ballmer would be highly insulting to Coogan's lineage of class, good looks, and talent.

You are quite right, however - Ballmer really does most closely resemble a living caricature of Uncle Fester, moreso, than anyone else.

 

[cvaldes]

Does Jobs even have an MBA???

Steve Jobs doesn't have a college degree. Like Larry Ellison and Bill Gates.

Did Bill Gates ever create anything or be innovative? All I recall is that he stole some CP/M, did a mild rewrite and sold it as MS-DOS. The rest his history.

Not exactly.

Bill's mom bought a CP/M clone (which was subsequently named PC-DOS) for her son's fledgling company. She then got on the phone with a pal who sat on IBM's board of directors and told them they should use her little Billy's operating system on their new IBM Personal Computer.

The rest is history.

 

[DMann]

Yes, thank you Bill Gates for creating the millions of IT jobs necessary to support your crummy software, the opportunity for career specialization in creating websites that display correctly in IE6, and endless possibility in the spyware/malware industries (both creation and removal).

Giving credit where credit is due. (what a total sham)

Now if only he'd introduce those moist and chewy computers he's been promising...

Gotta love those abysmal and embarrassing Seinfeld and Gates commercials.

(rumor has it that Seinfeld quasi-sabotaged the series, all the while making an effort not to upstage BG, being the Mac faithful, that he is)

 

[HiVolt]

Congrats Steve, but how about you lower the price a bit on your toys, eh?

 

[Speedy2]

1. The affordable personal computer industry.

Yeah right, the old myth. The affordable computer had nothing to with BG. It was an inevitable development of the early 80s. If MS-DOS hadn't been around to get IBM's bid, CP/M would have made it and everything else would have been similar. Most people would probably run OS/2, some Unix, BeOS or even Mac OS now and people would use Lotus SmartSuite or Wordperfect Office.
It's like saying "Facebook and Myspace created the social networking phenomenon". No, they haven't. If they hadn't been around, someone else would.

2. 10s of billions in health and education philanthropy.

Undoubtedly his biggest achievement, but, hey, after raking in billions of monopoly money this was kind of the least he could do.
Read this before praying to Lord Gates next time: http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2009/11/16/does-the-gates-foundation-need-a-500-million-shrine/

3. Thousands of companies that sprang up to service the PC industry

What exactly had BG to do with this? As if this wasn't already happening before his age and when his company was still tiny.

4. 10s of millions of pc related jobs over the last 30 years.

You're right, this is getting ridiculous.
You forgot the Internet by the way, which also was clearly BG's achievement.

 

[partyBoy]

steve for president !

 

[tdream]

Steve Jobs is Apple! There is no Apple without Steve Jobs. It's like Yin and Yang. They come together or not at all. Apple will fade into oblivion without Steve, just like before. Become another grey, faceless corporate entity.