CEO - The Best And The Brightest

WHAT’S COMMON BETWEEN Tim Cook, Jamie Dimon, and Akio Toyoda? That they are some of the most celebrated CEOs who made sure that their companies flourished, no matter how the economic environment was. And thus ensured for their shareholders the maximum returns.

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In India, too, there are many such examples. Of course, you don’t get an A.M. Naik or an N. Chandrasekaran every day. A booming economy (notwithstanding the latest headwinds) and an enabling regulatory environment provide just the right platform for enterprises to flourish. But they must also be led by able leaders — who have the foresight and vision; who have risktaking abilities and can sniff opportunities from a distance.

BW Businessworld showcases, in its annual issue, India’s Most Valuable CEOs — who have led from the front and made a difference to their companies’ fortunes. This year was particularly challenging as we are staring at a slowdown and the corporate results are far from exciting. So, tweaking our methodology, we decided to look at the companies’ profit growth in the last two years.

According to the methodology, BSE 500 companies were looked at. These companies were categorized across four categories: heavyweight – with revenues of more than Rs 20,000 crore; very large – with revenues between Rs 7,500 crore and Rs 20,000 crore; large – revenues between Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 7,000 crore; and medium – revenues between Rs 250 crore to Rs 2,500 crore. BW Businessworld partnered with Motilal Oswal to zero in on the fastest growing companies (profit growth) in the last two years, across all these categories. This was followed by an in-house jury which screened the names and further pruned the list. Some names were added too while a few were left out.

Finally, we had a list of 20 Most Valuable CEOs who, in a way, define India Inc. While initially, we had categorized the winners (across four sections), for the benefit of readers, we decided to present to you the winners in alphabetical order.

The following pages then are a Twenty20 for you — 20 Most Valuable CEOs who keep the flame burning bright even in the face of adversities.