With the Covid pandemic in the rearview mirror, this past year couldn’t quite compete with the few before it for the crisis-management skills demanded of top company leaders. But it sure tried. The 2023 Barron’s Top CEOs list includes 25 leaders who found ways to thrive through the mayhem.
Interest rates rose at the fastest pace in four decades, and bonds had their worst year since before the American Revolution, which left banks with paper portfolio losses and sparked a run on deposits that took down three of them. Strong industry players big and small were in a position to scoop up assets, including Jamie Dimon at
JPMorgan Chase
(ticker: JPM) and Frank B. Holding Jr. at
First Citizens BancShares
(FCNCA).
Meanwhile, James Gorman at
Morgan Stanley
(MS) is stepping down after an asset-management growth spree that left rivals who depend on more-volatile trading revenue with fee envy.
Goldilocks gave up trying to tell whether the U.S. economy is running too hot or cooling too quickly, with the yearly inflation rate down by half but still high, and asset prices plump. The best retailers are carefully managing inventories, pricing, and shopper convenience to grow market share without sacrificing profits or adding risk. They include W. Craig Jelinek at
Costco Wholesale
(COST) and Marvin Ellison at
Lowe’s
(LOW).
Ramon Laguarta at
PepsiCo
(PEP) is spicing up the staples business by, among other things, pushing the boundaries of Cheetos variation. When Brian Niccol at
Chipotle Mexican Grill
(CMG) isn’t evangelizing about his new chicken al pastor, he’s perfecting his approach to filling digital burrito orders without slowing down counter service.
Computers are doing more thinking for themselves, and investors, maybe a little less, judging by the prices that some are paying for artificial-intelligence exposure. The tech leaders on our list aren’t just riding this wave but also selling into it, after years of preparing their product lines. They include Jensen Huang at
Nvidia
(NVDA), Satya Nadella at
Microsoft
(MSFT), Sundar Pichai at
Alphabet
(GOOGL), Shantanu Narayen at
Adobe
(ADBE), and Safra Catz at
Oracle
(ORCL)—yes, that Oracle.
Our list is chosen by a panel of editors and reporters through a process of screening, nomination, discussion, and debate. Picture the 1957 jury drama 12 Angry Men, only collegial and half female, with no murder charges. Come to think of it, forget the movie. We emphasize recent management actions that have positioned companies for success. Many of the CEOs on our list, but not quite all, have had stellar stock returns. This is decidedly not a stock-picking exercise—top CEOs often come attached to ambitious stock valuations.
Tim Cook at
Apple
(AAPL) and Warren Buffett at
Berkshire Hathaway
(BRK.A, BRK.B) have made the list for years. Many members are new, like Dave Powers at Deckers Outdoor (DECK), who parlayed success in fleecy Ugg boots into a boom in bouncy Hoka sneakers. Some are returning; Tricia Griffith at
Progressive
(PGR) is gaining market share in a chaotic stretch for car-insurance pricing.
Click on the links in the table below for details about others, including John C. May’s robo-tractor rise at
Deere
(DE), Dave Ricks and
Eli Lilly’s
(LLY) obesity breakthrough, Vicki Hollub and
Occidental Petroleum’s
(OXY) plan for capturing carbon and using it to boost oil output, and Larry Culp’s feat of market fission at
General Electric
(GE)—splitting up the business to unleash its best stock performance in years.
Write to Jack Hough at [email protected]
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