- Samuel M. Walton Wal-Mart
- Walter E. Disney Walt Disney
- William H. Gates III Microsoft
- Henry Ford Ford Motor
- John P. Morgan J.P. Morgan Chase
- Alfred P. Sloan Jr. General Motors
- John F. Welch Jr. General Electric
- Raymond A. Kroc McDonald’s
- William R. Hewlett Hewlett-Packard
- David Packard Hewlett-Packard
- Andrew S. Grove Intel
- Milton S. Hershey The Hershey Co.
- John D. Rockefeller Sr. Standard Oil
- Thomas J. Watson Jr. IBM
- Henry R. Luce Time-Life Publications
- Will K. Kellogg Kellogg
- Warren E. Buffett Berkshire Hathaway
- Harland Sanders Kentucky Fried Chicken
- William C. Procter Procter & Gamble
- Thomas J. Watson Sr. IBM
- Asa G. Candler Coca-Cola
- Estee Lauder Estee Lauder
- Henry J. Heinz H.J. Heinz
- Daniel F. Gerber Jr. Gerber Products
- James L. Kraft Kraft Foods
- Steven P. Jobs Apple Computer
- John T. Dorrance Campbell Soup
- Leon L. Bean LL Bean
- William Levitt Levitt & Sons
- Howard Schultz Starbucks
- Michael Dell Dell Computer
- Robert W. Johnson Jr. Johnson & Johnson
- James E. Casey United Parcel Service
- Herbert D. Kelleher Southwest Airlines
- George Eastman Eastman Kodak
- Philip H. Knight Nike
- James O. McKinsey McKinsey & Co.
- Charles R. Schwab Charles Schwab
- Frederick W. Smith Federal Express
- William Wrigley Jr. Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.
- Gordon E. Moore Intel
- Robert (Ted) E. Turner Turner Broadcasting
- J. Willard Marriott Jr. Marriott Int’l.
- James E. Burke Johnson & Johnson
- David Sarnoff RCA
- William E. Boeing Boeing
- Walter A. Haas Sr. Levi Strauss
- Henry J. Kaiser Kaiser Industries
- Walter A. Haas Jr. Levi Strauss
- Clarence Birdseye Bird’s Eye Foods
Based on a survey of 7,000 executives by Harvard Business School’s Anthony J. Mayo and Nitin Nohria for their book, In Their Time (Harvard Business School Press, 2005).