THE MOST POWERFUL CEOs
The 2001 trifecta of Chambers, Ballmer and Barrett take first, show and place in this year's Powerometer survey of 250 readers, as it did last year. But Chambers lost ground while Ballmer gained and Barrett held steady. Survey respondents ranked the CEOs on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being the most powerful.
 
2001 Rank CEO Company 2001 Power Rating 2000 Power Rating Change 2000 Rank
1 John Chambers Cisco 73.0 76.7 -5% 1
2 Steve Ballmer Microsoft 72.5 69.1 5% 2
3 Craig Barrett Intel 69.2 68.3 1% 3
4 Louis Gerstner IBM 67.5 61.8 9% 8
5 Michael Dell Dell 65.5 66.6 -2% 5
6 Larry Ellison Oracle 64.8 66.0 -2% 6
7 Scott McNealy Sun 63.6 66.7 -5% 4
8 Carly Fiorina Hewlett-Packard 61.0 61.6 -1% 9
9 C. Michael Armstrong AT&T 59.0 61.0 -3% 10
10 George Samenuk 2 Network Associates 57.3 N/A N/A N/A
11 Ivan Seidenberg Verizon 56.9 50.1 14% 17
12 Joe Nacchio Qwest 56.6 49.1 15% 18
13 Joe Tucci 3 EMC 56.5 N/A N/A N/A
14 Bernie Ebbers
WorldCom		 56.3 55.5 1% 12
15 John Roth 1
Nortel		 55.7 62.5 -11% 7
16 Hasso Plattner SAP 55.7 47.9 16% 21
17 Michael Capellas Compaq 55.2 53.6 3% 15
18 Bill Esrey Sprint 55.1 54.9 0% 13
19 Bruce Claflin 4 3Com 54.9 N/A N/A N/A
20 Ed Whitacre SBC 54.3 48.9 11% 19
21 Sanjay Kumar Computer Associates 53.3 47.1 13% 22
22 Duane Ackerman BellSouth 53.2 46.3 15% 23
23 Serge Tchuruk Alcatel 53.2 38.7 38% 25
24 Jack Messman 5 Novell 50.2 N/A N/A N/A
25 Henry Schacht 6 Lucent 46.7 N/A N/A N/A
1 Still CEO when survey conducted.
2 Replaced Bill Larson, 2000 rank 14.
3 First time in survey.		 4 Replaced Eric Benhamou, 2000 rank 16.
5 Replaced Eric Schmidt, 2000 rank 20.
6 Replaced Richard McGinn, 2000 rank 11.


POWER ON THE RISE
Based on a scale of 1 to 100, almost half the CEOs in this year's survey gained power over last year. But of those, three still fell in rank (in bold), and two merely retained their high 2000 spots (in red).
 
CEO 2001 Power Rating 2000 Power Rating Gain 2001 Rank 2000 Rank
Serge Tchuruk 53.2 38.7 38% 23 25
Hasso Plattner 55.7 47.9 16% 16 21
Joe Nacchio 56.6 49.1 15% 12 18
Duane Ackerman 53.2 46.3 15% 22 23
Ivan Seidenberg 56.9 50.1 14%
11		 17
Sanjay Kumar 53.3 47.1 13% 21 22

Ed Whitacre		 54.3 48.9 11% 20 19
Louis Gerstner 67.5 61.8 9% 4 8
Steve Ballmer 72.5 69.1 5% 2 2
Michael Capellas 55.2 53.6 3% 17 15
Craig Barrett 69.2 68.3 1% 3 3
Bernie Ebbers 56.3 55.5 1% 14 12


POWER BROWNOUTS
Although respondents gave seven CEOs a lower score this year than last (on a scale of 1 to 100), only two dropped in the rankings (those in bold) — and two still climbed (those in red).
 
CEO 2001 Power Rating 2000 Power Rating loss 2001 Rank 2000 Rank
John Roth 1 55.7 62.5 -11% 15 7
John Chambers 73.0 76.7 -5% 1 1
Scott McNealy 63.6 66.7 -5% 7 4
C. Michael Armstrong 59.0 61.0 -3% 9
10
Michael Dell 65.5 66.6 -2% 5 5
Larry Ellison 64.8 66.0 -2% 6 6
Carly Fiorina 61.0 61.6 -1% 8 9
1 CEO when survey conducted; has since been replaced by former CFO Frank Dunn.