Who are the Top CEOs & Founders in the World?

Forbes' 37th Annual World’s Billionaires List ranking came out in the first week of October 2023, unveiling the names of the current Richie Rich's of the world.🕴️ LVMH's CEO Bernard Arnault stole the first position, followed closely by Tesla's CEO Elon Musk. The list includes many founders and CEOs of giant corporations worldwide, including India's Mukesh Ambani in 10th position.

Chief Executive Officers, AKA CEOs, of the companies not only manage the overall operations but also play a significant role in making strategic decisions. They are also the face of the company whose share prices (if listed) may fluctuate with the CEO's every move. Even a sneeze at the wrong place or time becomes the breaking news. CEOs are pretty much like the protagonists of a blockbuster movie.

Don't get the wrong idea because when I say that these CEOs possess the might to change the world, it’s not necessarily in the right direction. People with lots and lots of money often think of themselves as the image of the Almighty Lord and love spending quality time swirling things up.

The endgame? Ordinary people like you and I have to bear the consequences of their absurd games.

So, let's see which of these personalities’ qualities you need to observe, adapt, or avoid.  

Elon Musk

The runner-up of Forbes’s 2023 list, SpaceX’s founder and X’s CTO, 52-year-old Elon Musk, is infamous in the business world. His constant antics and random posts on the social media platform ‘X’ make him the headliner of business news. But, the drama-craver Musk’s power is not limited to being the bad boy billionaire.

The immense net worth of over ₹14.9 lakh crore gives Musk the power to put his weight into crucial decisions. The companies he founded and acquired are mostly leaders in their respective sectors, conveying Musk’s desire to change the world as per his ideals.
 
The story of Musk acquiring Twitter because a user randomly suggested he do it is a great example of the above statement. Who buys a damn company when they are not satisfied with the services? 🤔 Crazy rich people do!

And wish to know what happens when rich people go ahead with such absurdities? Know by reading Twitter's (now X) condition ever since Musk acquired it.

Musk’s Mighty Plans

Elon Musk is a visionary. Combine that quality with his unpredictable nature, and you have a wild card at hand. His two major passions, space and artificial intelligence have the power to turn the world upside down.

His co-founded company SpaceX is the first private company to launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft successfully. Through this, he wishes for humans to become a multi-planetary species, creating life on other planets, such as Mars.

On the other hand, another one of his co-founded firms, OpenAI, introduced the world to a new era of artificial intelligence. The hot and cold relationship between ChatGPT and Elon Musk has been entertaining for a while now. He is one of the catalysts for people now worrying about losing their jobs to AI.

After he was forced to leave OpenAI, he advised everyone to slow down the development or machines would rule over us all.
I say, Musk, choose a damn side. 😌

Jeff Bezos

According to the Harvard Business Review, Jeff Bezos is the best-performing CEO in the world. Amazon’s CEO and Founder can single-handedly take credit for establishing and successfully running the world’s largest e-commerce and cloud computing company. He has a unique style of CEO-ing if you get what I mean.

Plus, he also has a degree in electrical engineering and computer science. Funny, how many CEOs are engineers? Do engineers have a knack for being good leaders? 🤓 If so, why are so many memes circulating about their not-so-successful lifestyle?

Anyways, Jeff’s Amazon never reveals how many Kindles they sold or what the sales numbers were like for the quarters. This opaqueness has been affecting the e-commerce giant, but it also expresses a unique quality in Bezos’ arsenal. He is not a follower of herd behaviour, and this makes him stand out.

With a net worth of ₹9.4 lakh crore, Jeff has successfully maintained the top position in a competitive market on the global level. He follows a transformational leadership style and focuses on innovation for the company.

Jeff also has BIG plans for investments in India. Read Jeff Bezos’ Announcement: Amazon’s Vision for Amazing India to learn what they are.   

Weird Traits of Jeff Bezos

There are dark patches in Jeff’s silver lining. The employees at Amazon often complain about his micromanaging attitude. He doesn't listen to his subordinates' advice and often takes unnecessary risks. I guess working under a "know-it-all" could be infuriating for Amazon's employees, as expressed by its high attrition rate of 80%.  

He is among the few who don't judge the company's performance based on profits. All he wishes is to make Amazon an "everything store", and he also has his sights on the space sector. Not many know this, but Bezos founded a private aerospace company, "Blue Origin," which develops rockets and spacecraft. What is rich people's obsession with space? Is plain ol' Earth not enough for their tastes?

Tim Cook

Tim Cook has been the CEO of Apple Inc. ever since 2011. With a net worth of ₹15.7 lakh crore, Tim finished industrial engineering and an MBA from Duke University in North Carolina. He is one of the good guys on this list, and soon you will know why.
Tim Cook is driven with an inclusive mindset and is passionate about alternative energy sources. Apple Inc. is one of the most prominent investors in renewable resources, and this ideology is reflected in Cook's plans. Apple is already halfway on the path to being entirely run by renewable resources.

Tim’s Good Guy Persona

Tim Cook has had a great year so far in 2023. Apple made history by hitting a $3 trillion valuation, which is around ₹24,93,60,00,00,00,000. 😳

Like a cherry on the cake, Apple's CEO just made over $41.5 billion (around ₹3,44,989.5 crore) with his biggest share sale after 2021.

Let's not forget the unveiling of the iPhone 15 and the Vision Pro Headset. Alongside making Apple the most successful company in the world, Cook is also busy making the Earth a better place. He has expressed his views on diversity and often promotes sensitive topics like LGBTQ rights, equal pay, climate change, etc. We finally have a CEO on our list who is thinking about making our planet a better place instead of looking for alternatives. 😅

Mukesh Ambani

This list would be incomplete without Reliance Industries Ltd.'s CEO and Chairman Mukesh Ambani, whose name represents wealth in India. Indians use the phrase "tu Ambani hai kya" to describe situations involving spending large sums of money.

With a net worth of over ₹9 lakh crore, Mukesh Ambani succeeded in taking his father, Dhirubhai Ambani's legacy to untouchable grounds. He and his family are now the most powerful entities in the nation, and their presence portrays the picture.

Reliance Industries is present in several market sectors, boosting the Indian economy vigorously. But,

For a thorough analysis of what the future holds for the company, read "The Future of Reliance: A New Era of Growth or Decline".

Ambani’s Market Stealing Aura

Money and intellect, this Batman-like combination makes Mukesh Ambani the best Ambani in their three generations. This was announced to the world when Ambani retained his chairman position for the next five years despite being over-age.

Analysts and investing experts often whisper that if Reliance enters a new sector, the market is bound to shake. Ambani's competitors call him "the market stealer", and he thinks of himself as "the revolutionary".

His current efforts to make India a digital powerhouse are crystal clear to all. But imagine him being greedy and taking the nation in the wrong direction. Because he sure has the power to do it with ease.

Sundar Pichai

With a comparatively lower net worth, ₹10,890.03 crore, Sundar Pichai might be falling behind other personalities in this list. But, he is the highest-paid CEO with a $226 million (around ₹187.85 crore) annual package. This Chief Executive Officer has a degree in engineering and has served the role of both Google and Alphabet’s CEO for more than four years now.  

His original name is Pichai Sundararajan, and he has been part of Google since 2004. Sundar has played a significant role in major projects like Chrome, Android, and Gmail.   

Sundar’s Grounded Success

One of the beautiful things about our nation's people is that we are highly talented and persistent in making our place. Indians now occupy many CEOs and key managerial positions in foreign companies, and Sundar Pichai is the most influential.

Pichai started from ground level at Google and made his way to the top by first being appointed Google’s CEO in 2015 and then Alphabet Inc.’s CEO in 2019. He believes Google to be the most helpful company and wishes to create opportunities for humankind’s advancement. 

The Bottom Line

The CEOs and founders mentioned in this list are always the talk of the town and are competing against one another for the wealthiest person’s throne. They have drastically changed the world and are busy planning further adaptations.

Which one of these personalities were you inspired by the most? Did your favourite Richie Rich make it to the list? If not, then comment and let us know why you think they should be present here.