Best CEOs For 2013

Photograph by Kristoffer Tripplaar/Photoshelter

Warren Buffett is one of a kind. This quintessential CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) recently told his shareholders that if he can’t increase Berkshire Hathaway’s intrinsic value over and beyond the S&P 500 index over a long run, then the investors should dump their shares in the company. A pretty bold challenge, but Buffett is up for it. Buffett has led the company’s share to a return 8,000 times since 1965. Like I said, Buffett is one of a kind. But, is he the only one?

What makes a great CEO? Let’s put the frontrunners in the Warren Buffett test. Maximizing the shareholder’s investment in the company should be the ultimate goal of a CEO. Financial savvy leaders should also be able to innovate products and motivate employees to translate the goal of the company into profits. Soon enough, these will translate dividends to shareholders; and ultimately, a lot of intrinsic value to the business.

Barron’s recently revealed its latest top picks for world’s best CEOs for 2013. The basic requirement is for the share prices to outsmart the S&P 500 and report annualized returns that are at least 21%, which is Warren Buffett’s annualized total return while CEO.

Jeff Bezos

Amazon.com, CEO since 1994

Jeff Bezos changed the way people shop and read. This top Internet retailer developed and sold millions of Kindle. It also developed services such as free two-day shipping for $79 a year or Amazon Prime.

His annualized total return while CEO is 38.8% while the S&P 500 is 5.6%.

Larry Ellison

Oracle, CEO since 1977

Larry Ellison made Oracle (ORCL) the most profitable software company with earnings of almost $10 billion last year. It has been a long stretch, but Oracle is pushing to the top of the industry. Ellison has been making a lot of deals for acquisitions which helped increase profits by 17% last year. There were a total of 12 acquisitions in the past year mostly geared towards cloud services.

Oracle’s annualized total returns while Ellison is CEO is 25.7% while S&P 500 is 9.7%.

Larry Fink

BlackRock, CEO since 1988

The second Larry in the list is BlackRock’s (BLK) Larry Fink. He co-founded the company 25 years ago as a bond investment firm. Now, the firm is the world’s biggest money manager with over $3.8 trillion in assets.

While CEO, BlackRock has an annualized total return of 25.3% while the S&P 500 is 3.2%.

José Antonio Fernández Carbajal

Fomento Economico Mexicano, CEO since 1995

During Fernández’s tenure, FEMSA (ADR) has grown from a $1.2 billion Mexican beverage company into a $36 billion Latin American powerhouse. It operates the world’s largest Coca-Cola bottler and the region’s fastest-growing retailer, the Oxxo convenience-store chain.

After two FEMSA security guards were killed in a drug shootout, he sought new ways to make the city of Monterrey safer, focusing more on community and social programs to improve prospects for youth. He also teaches an engineering course at his alma mater, the Tecnológico de Monterrey.

The company’s annualized total return during his tenure is 22.8% while S&P 500 is 8.7%.

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