It's impossible to pinpoint the best CEO in American history — the field is just too crowded to pick only one, or five, or twenty of the best and most consequential. Here are just a few of the leaders who shaped their industries and our nation as well.
David Packard
Hewlett-Packard cofounder David Packard never cared much about the trappings of wealth and status, even after he became one of Silicon Valley's first self-made billionaires. He called his leadership style "management by walking around," and HP saw 40 consecutive years of profitable growth under his leadership. Packard helped create the Silicon Valley tech industry as we know it today, even though he was too modest to ever take credit for it during his life. The program at his funeral simply listed his occupation as "Rancher, etc."
Charles Coffin
General Electric's most famous names might be Jack Welch and Thomas Edison, but as its first CEO, Charles Coffin was one of the transformative business leaders and innovators in our nation's history. Coffin oversaw the establishment of America's first research laboratory and introduced the concept of systematic management development — the same process that helped Jack Welch ascend the ranks many decades later.
Robert L. Johnson
In 1980, Robert L. Johnson, then a media lobbyist, convinced Tele-Communications Inc. CEO John Malone to float him $500,000 in startup capital — money he would use to launch Black Entertainment Television or BET. It was the first network that catered specifically to African-American audiences, started modestly, airing for just two hours every Friday night. But viewers flocked to BET, and Johnson's big idea began turning a profit just five years after its launch. In 1991, Johnson added another first when BET became the first Black-controlled company on the New York Stock Exchange.
