{"id":1075,"date":"2014-06-26T13:24:48","date_gmt":"2014-06-26T13:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/?p=1075"},"modified":"2024-02-19T06:14:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T06:14:32","slug":"throwback-thursday-top-6-most-powerful-ceos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/throwback-thursday-top-6-most-powerful-ceos\/","title":{"rendered":"#ThrowbackThursday: Top 6 Most Powerful CEOs of 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Most people, when get out of college, have at least two  prospects before them. One is to find a nice job somewhere and the other is to  start on their own. They can either be employed or become the employer. Now  most of us are not prone to taking risks when it comes to our finances, but a  little risk at the right time, can provide you a much stronger financial status  in the long run. We all wish to be among the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/survey-reveals-10-percent-of-tech-startups-flourish\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>10%  of startups that flourish<\/strong><\/a> and to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs;  I bring you Forbes\u2019 Top 6 most powerful CEOs of 2014 and where they were  previously. To make you see the light, I will delve into the past that was not  so favorable to all of them. Like any startup, big or small, they had to face  the music and strive to make it work. See what you can learn from their  examples and then implement it to make your own dreams come true.<\/p>\n<h2>Bill Gates<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Current Position:<\/strong> Co-Chair, Bill &amp; Melinda Gates  Foundation; former CEO and Chairman, Microsoft<\/p>\n<p><strong>Net Worth:<\/strong> $78.8 Billion<\/p>\n<p><strong>Forbes Ranking:<\/strong> No. 6 on World\u2019s Most Powerful 2014.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Bill-Gates.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Bill-Gates.jpg\" alt=\"Bill Gates\" title=\"Bill Gates\" width=\"500\" height=\"336\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1078\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Bill-Gates.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Bill-Gates-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Bill-Gates-327x220.jpg 327w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Bill-Gates-372x250.jpg 372w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Bill-Gates-446x300.jpg 446w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Bill Gates has been America\u2019s wealthiest man overall since  1995, except for 2008 when he was beaten by Warren Buffett and Carlos Slim.  Today, he\u2019s known as an inventor, a business magnate and a philanthropist, but  his beginnings were not very humble either. He was the grandson of JW Maxwell,  president of the national bank, and a programming genius who studied at  Harvard. He later opened a computer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brandveda.in\/blog\/software-companies-in-ahmedabad\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">software company<\/a> of his own in  collaboration with Paul Allen, his partner-in-crime at the Lakeside School.<\/p>\n<div class='tm-tweet-clear'><\/div>\n<div class='tm-click-to-tweet'>\n<div class='tm-ctt-text'><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=%23BillGates+has+been+America%E2%80%99s+wealthiest+man+since+1995%2C+except+in+2008+when+%23WarrenBuffet+beat+him.&#038;via=surveycrest&#038;related=surveycrest&#038;url=https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/throwback-thursday-top-6-most-powerful-ceos\/' target='_blank'>#BillGates has been America\u2019s wealthiest man since 1995, except in 2008 when #WarrenBuffet beat him.<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=%23BillGates+has+been+America%E2%80%99s+wealthiest+man+since+1995%2C+except+in+2008+when+%23WarrenBuffet+beat+him.&#038;via=surveycrest&#038;related=surveycrest&#038;url=https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/throwback-thursday-top-6-most-powerful-ceos\/' target='_blank' class='tm-ctt-btn'>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n<div class='tm-ctt-tip'><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Michael Duke<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Current Position:<\/strong> CEO Wal-mart Stores<\/p>\n<p><strong>Total Compensation<\/strong>: $5,643,677<\/p>\n<p><strong>Forbes Ranking:<\/strong> No. 10 on World\u2019s Most Powerful in 2014.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Michael-Duke.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Michael-Duke.jpg\" alt=\"Michael Duke\" title=\"Michael Duke\" width=\"500\" height=\"391\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1083\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Michael Terry Duke was the fourth CEO of Wal-mart who served  between 2009 and 2013. He joined the company in 1995 and ascended the ladder to  the position of chief officer after fourteen years. Unfortunately, there is no  background info shared with the public but we do know how hard he worked while  his tenure as the president of Wal-Mart. He still serves on the community  advisory board of Arvest Bank and board of directors for the Retail Industry  Leaders Association.<\/p>\n<h2>Warren Buffett<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Current Position:<\/strong> CEO, Berkshire Hathaway<\/p>\n<p><strong>Net Worth:<\/strong> $65.2 Billion<\/p>\n<p><strong>Forbes Ranking:<\/strong> No. 13 on World\u2019s Most Powerful.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Warren-Buffett.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Warren-Buffett.jpg\" alt=\"Warren Buffett\" title=\"Warren Buffett\" width=\"500\" height=\"332\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1079\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Warren-Buffett.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Warren-Buffett-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Warren-Buffett-330x220.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Warren-Buffett-375x250.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Warren-Buffett-450x300.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Buffett an American investor, business magnate and  philanthropist is considered as the most successful investor in the 20th  century. He is ranked as one of the world\u2019s wealthiest person and also one of  the most influential people in the world. Buffett is also known as the \u201cWizard  of Omaha\u201d because of his adherence to the value investing philosophy as  personally he was frugal inspite of all that wealth.<\/p>\n<p>As a child, he always had interest in making and saving  money. He used to do door to door selling of chewing gums, coke and magazines.  Moreover he has also worked at a grocery store with his grandfather. He kept on  making money even in the high school by selling stamps, newspapers and golf  balls. Now he is the largest shareholder, CEO and chairman of Berkshire  Hathaway. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012 and was successfully  treated.<\/p>\n<div class='tm-tweet-clear'><\/div>\n<div class='tm-click-to-tweet'>\n<div class='tm-ctt-text'><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=%23WarrenBuffett+is+also+known+as+the+%E2%80%9CWizard+of+Omaha%E2%80%9D+because+of+his+adherence+to+the+value+investing+philosophy.&#038;via=surveycrest&#038;related=surveycrest&#038;url=https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/throwback-thursday-top-6-most-powerful-ceos\/' target='_blank'>#WarrenBuffett is also known as the \u201cWizard of Omaha\u201d because of his adherence to the value investing philosophy.<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=%23WarrenBuffett+is+also+known+as+the+%E2%80%9CWizard+of+Omaha%E2%80%9D+because+of+his+adherence+to+the+value+investing+philosophy.&#038;via=surveycrest&#038;related=surveycrest&#038;url=https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/throwback-thursday-top-6-most-powerful-ceos\/' target='_blank' class='tm-ctt-btn'>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n<div class='tm-ctt-tip'><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Jeff Bezos<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Current Position:<\/strong> CEO, Amazon.com<\/p>\n<p><strong>Net Worth:<\/strong> $30.2 Billion<\/p>\n<p><strong>Forbes Ranking:<\/strong> No. 15 on World\u2019s Most Powerful; No. 18 on  the Billionaire List 2014.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Jeff-Bezos.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Jeff-Bezos.jpg\" alt=\"Jeff Bezos\" title=\"Jeff Bezos\" width=\"500\" height=\"299\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Jeff-Bezos.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Jeff-Bezos-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Jeff-Bezos-335x201.jpg 335w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Jeff-Bezos-417x250.jpg 417w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Jeff-Bezos-500x300.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Bezos an American business tycoon and investor played vital  role in the growth of e-commerce industry. He is the CEO and founder of the  famous Amazon.com, an online merchant of books initially and now offering huge  variety of products. He made Amazon.com the largest retailer on the internet.  After graduating from Princeton in electrical engineering degree and computer  science he started working with the Wall Street, where he learnt that internet  is going to be the rapid growing industry. After quitting his job he moved to  Seattle and founded his very own online bookstore Amazon in 1995 which is doing  amazing business until now. In 2012, he was named as the \u201cBusinessperson of The  Year\u201d by Fortune.<\/p>\n<p>Besoz spent his youth working at a U.S Atomic Energy  Commission ranch with his maternal grandfather. He had mechanical abilities  since childhood because as a toddler he even tried dismantling his crib.<\/p>\n<div class='tm-tweet-clear'><\/div>\n<div class='tm-click-to-tweet'>\n<div class='tm-ctt-text'><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=%23JeffBezos+is+known+for+his+mechanical+abilities+because+as+a+toddler+he+tried+dismantling+his+crib.&#038;via=surveycrest&#038;related=surveycrest&#038;url=https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/throwback-thursday-top-6-most-powerful-ceos\/' target='_blank'>#JeffBezos is known for his mechanical abilities because as a toddler he tried dismantling his crib.<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=%23JeffBezos+is+known+for+his+mechanical+abilities+because+as+a+toddler+he+tried+dismantling+his+crib.&#038;via=surveycrest&#038;related=surveycrest&#038;url=https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/throwback-thursday-top-6-most-powerful-ceos\/' target='_blank' class='tm-ctt-btn'>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n<div class='tm-ctt-tip'><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Rex Tillerson<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Position: <\/strong>CEO, Exxon Mobil<\/p>\n<p><strong>Total Compensation:<\/strong> $8,138,329<\/p>\n<p><strong>Forbes Ranking:<\/strong> No. 16 on World\u2019s Most Powerful.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Rex-Tillerson.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Rex-Tillerson.jpg\" alt=\"Rex Tillerson\" title=\"Rex Tillerson\" width=\"500\" height=\"339\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1081\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Rex-Tillerson.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Rex-Tillerson-300x203.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Rex-Tillerson-324x220.jpg 324w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Rex-Tillerson-369x250.jpg 369w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Rex-Tillerson-442x300.jpg 442w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Tillerson is the CEO, president and the chairman of the  Exxon Mobile Corporation. It is the largest non-state oil and gas company with  the operations widely spread in six continents. It had dropped its position  from No.1 to No. 5 largest company in 2013 according to the Forbes Global 2000.  He has received his civil engineering degree from the University of Texas and  was named as the \u201cDistinguished Engineering Graduate\u201d in 2006.<\/p>\n<p>He is also a member of the executive committee and  ex-chairman of the American Petroleum Institute. Moreover, he received his  honorary doctorate engineering degree in 2011 from the Worcester Polytechnic  Institute.<\/p>\n<div class='tm-tweet-clear'><\/div>\n<div class='tm-click-to-tweet'>\n<div class='tm-ctt-text'><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=Tillerson%27s+%23Exxon+Mobile+Corp.+is+the+largest+non-state+%23oilandgas+company+w%2F+operations+spread+in+6+continents.&#038;via=surveycrest&#038;related=surveycrest&#038;url=https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/throwback-thursday-top-6-most-powerful-ceos\/' target='_blank'>Tillerson&#8217;s #Exxon Mobile Corp. is the largest non-state #oilandgas company w\/ operations spread in 6 continents.<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=Tillerson%27s+%23Exxon+Mobile+Corp.+is+the+largest+non-state+%23oilandgas+company+w%2F+operations+spread+in+6+continents.&#038;via=surveycrest&#038;related=surveycrest&#038;url=https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/throwback-thursday-top-6-most-powerful-ceos\/' target='_blank' class='tm-ctt-btn'>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n<div class='tm-ctt-tip'><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Larry Page<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Position:<\/strong> CEO, Google<\/p>\n<p><strong>Net Worth:<\/strong> $31.6 Billion<\/p>\n<p><strong>Forbes Ranking:<\/strong> No. 17 on World\u2019s Most Powerful; No. 17  billionaire 2014.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Larry-Page.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Larry-Page.jpg\" alt=\"Larry Page\" title=\"Larry Page\" width=\"500\" height=\"259\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1082\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Larry-Page-300x156.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Larry-Page-335x175.jpg 335w, https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Larry-Page-500x260.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Lawrence \u201cLarry\u201d Page, an American business tycoon and a  computer scientist is the co-founder of the most famous Google, along with  Sergey Brin. Larry Page was made the CEO of Google in 2011. He is ranked as one  of the wealthiest person according to Forbes list ranking at No.19. He also  invented Google Page Rank which is the foundation of Google search ranking  algorithms.<\/p>\n<p>He holds Bachelors of Science in computer engineering from  the University of Michigan and Masters of Science in computer science from the  University of Stanford.<\/p>\n<div class='tm-tweet-clear'><\/div>\n<div class='tm-click-to-tweet'>\n<div class='tm-ctt-text'><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=%23LarryPage+was+the+first+kid+in+his+elementary+school+to+submit+the+assignment+on+Word+Processor.&#038;via=surveycrest&#038;related=surveycrest&#038;url=https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/throwback-thursday-top-6-most-powerful-ceos\/' target='_blank'>#LarryPage was the first kid in his elementary school to submit the assignment on Word Processor.<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=%23LarryPage+was+the+first+kid+in+his+elementary+school+to+submit+the+assignment+on+Word+Processor.&#038;via=surveycrest&#038;related=surveycrest&#038;url=https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/throwback-thursday-top-6-most-powerful-ceos\/' target='_blank' class='tm-ctt-btn'>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n<div class='tm-ctt-tip'><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>As a child he was always messing around with computers and  Popular Science magazines all over the place. His attraction for computers  started at the age of 6 and he was the first kid in his elementary school to  submit the assignment on Word Processor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most people, when get out of college, have at least two prospects before them. One is to find a nice job somewhere and the other is to start on their own. They can either be employed or become the employer. Now most of us are not prone to taking risks when it comes to our [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,325],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-survey","category-throwbackthursday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1075"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5628,"href":"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075\/revisions\/5628"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surveycrest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}