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The Wall Street Journal’s sister investment site Barron’s has an annual list of the world’s 30 best CEOs.
Barron’s says “great leaders combine passion, commitment, creativity, and an entrepreneurial drive” and in the words of Warren Buffet act like “business owners.”
Marius Kloppers, who took up the helm of BHP Billiton in 2007, is joined on the list by Buffet (no surprise here) and Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos, FedEx’s Fred Smith, JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Anheuser-Busch Inbev’s Carlos Brito among others.
Kloppers is the only mining CEO on the list and together with Rex Tillerson of ExxonMobil are only two representatives from the extractive industries.
While BHP’s share price has now fallen back to the level it was when Kloppers became CEO , 5-year profit growth at BHP is a healthy 20%.
12 CEOs did not perform to standard over the past year and were kicked off the list according to Barron’s criteria including Dieter Zetsche of Daimler and Jim Sinegal of Costco.
New to the list were Jeffrey Boyd of Priceline.com, Starbucks’ Howard Schultz and Olivia Lum who heads Hyflux.
Here’s the entry on Kloppers:
Marius Kloppers
Why: Mining the stuff for making China.
Kloppers, who sits atop the world’s largest mining concern, knows as much about doing business with China as anyone. His Australia-based company supplies some 20% of all the iron ore used by China for making steel for refrigerators, cars, office towers and more. Though Kloppers sees some weakness ahead for China, he’s in for the long haul and looks likely to be a huge winner.
Kloppers also provides the world with coal, copper, potash and, increasingly, natural gas. Last year, BHP Billiton joined the U.S. gas-drilling boom, buying Petrohawk Energy and some assets of Chesapeake Energy. Such growth helped support a 20% dividend hike last year despite volatility in commodities.
Kloppers, 49, grew up in South Africa, holds a doctoral degree in engineering and keeps trim with a vegetarian diet.
Forbes calculated Kloppers’ 2010 salary this way:
| Salary | $2,038,885 |
| Bonus | $2,330,527 |
| Restricted stock awards | $1,154,015 |
| All other compensation | $3,254,606 |
| Option awards $ | $1,735,143 |
| Non-equity incentive plan compensation | $0 |
| Change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings | $815,554 |
| Total Compensation | $11,328,730.00 |
2 Comments
Andries Lottering
Marius as mede Suid Afrikaner baie geluk. Dit is lekker om te sien dat sukses haalbaar is.
Jy is n’ baie goeie voorbeeld vir my. Hou jou voete op die grond.
Groete
Andries Lottering
[email protected]
Gabriel Vermeulen
Being a South African white male I know all about going somewhere else to make some money and be appreciated by people who do not care what color your skin is. I have seen in Iraq and Afghanistan how people appreciate our knowledge and insight into worldly matters. Local people often refers to us South Africans as brothers. They often ask me why we so different from the other countries white people. It is natural for us to mix with them and understand their hardship and struggles. When I see people like Marius, it just confirms my believe that we white male South Africans, is not at all so bad as out present Government in South Africa, make us out to be. I am proud to be able to congratulate you as a fellow South African.