Barron's List of World's Best CEOs

The World's Best CEOs - According to Barron's, the test of a Chief Executive comes in tough times. Not that it's easy managing a large corporation in good times, but when the economy and financial markets turn unfavourable, you need more than nerve and knowhow to prevail. Besides confronting a challenging business environment, CEOs need also to juggle the demands of customers, employees and investors.

Crisis management wasn't the main criterion Barron's used to assemble their fourth annual list of the 30 best corporate leaders worldwide. Yet great CEOs shine in hard times, and their bet is that these 30 that they have identified are up to the task.

(Barron's Magazine, sister publication of The Wall Street Journal, is published by Dow Jones & Company.)

Here is Barron's list of The World's Best CEOs.

Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazardis (co-CEOs since 1992)
Research in Motion
Two underappreciated northern lights

Warren Buffett (since 1965)
Berkshire Hathaway
Minding Fort Knox, taking on the bondsmen

John Chambers (since 1995)
Cisco Systems
Runs silent, runs deep

Kenneth Chenault (since 2001)
American Express
Ready for the storm

Richard Clark (since 2005)
Merck
A flair for the undramatic

Charlie Ergen (since 1980)
Dish Network
His eyes are on the stars, his feet on the ground

Laurence Fink (since 1998)
BlackRock
A brainy and steady steward of assets

Lew Frankfort (since 1995)
Coach
Delivering profits in style

Fred Goodwin (since 2000)
Royal Bank of Scotland
In a world of loose spenders, his Scottish values stand out

Hugh Grant (since 2003)
Monsanto
Shaping the future of agriculture

Mark Hurd (since 2005)
Hewlett-Packard
Determined to keep the technology giant competitive

Jeffrey Immelt (since 2000)
General Electric
Continually spurs growth from a true giant

Satoru Iwata (since 2002)
Nintendo
Took the video game out of the box

Steven Jobs (since 1997)
Apple
Still a wunderkind, still committed to insanely great products

Henning Kagermann (since 2003)
SAP
Hard-headed on software

A.G. Lafley (since 2000)
Procter & Gamble
An unsentimental innovator

Robert Lane (since 2000)
Deere
A banker in the tractor's seat

Terry Leahy (since 1997)
Tesco
Making us shop 'til we drop

Jack Ma (since 1999)
Alibaba Group
Out e-Bays eBay

Fujio Mitarai (since 1995)
Canon
Brought the company into focus

Lakshmi Mittal (since 1976)
ArcelorMittal
Modern-day steel magnate

Michael O'Leary (since 1994)
Ryanair Holdings
Never afraid to throttle up

Samuel Palmisano (since 2002)
IBM
Making Big Blue blush

Frank Riboud (since 1996)
Group Danone
Recognized early that health consciousness sells

Peter Rose (since 1988)
Expeditors International
Doesn't suffer fools gladly

James J. Schiro (since 2002)
Zurich Financial Services
Deftly avoiding subprime

Bob Simpson (since 1986)
XTO Energy
Outsmarting the majors

James Sinegal (since 1988)
Costco Wholesale
A retailer whose store has 50 million "members"

Fred Smith (since 1971)
FedEx
Perseveres at perseverance

Ratan Tata (since 1991
Tata Sons
Ambitious master of low-cost production

Source: MSN