Leadership: The TIME/CNN 25 Most Influential

Every CEO wields power within his company; only a few exert a broader, lasting influence--creating new industries and reshaping markets and leadership styles. At the end of this remarkable year in business, journalists at TIME and CNN have collaborated to name the 25 most influential global executives

1 CARLOS GHOSN They said a foreign CEO could never survive the insular culture of Japanese business. Then this quintessential global leader--born in Brazil of Lebanese parents and educated in France--was dispatched by Renault to rescue its stake in NISSAN. Ghosn, 47, briskly closed plants, shed workers, hired stylish new auto designers--and took the company from a $5.6 billion loss in 2000 to this year's $2.5 billion profit. Ghosn's methods are openly copied, the story of Nissan's revival is a best seller in Japan, and Ghosn was named that country's "Father of the Year."

2 BILL GATES is worth more than $30 billion, thanks to his 12.3% stake in a resurgent Microsoft, whose Windows operating system dominates the desktop on 90% of the world's PCs. Gates' empire extends to Internet access (MSN), television (MSNBC and a stake in cable giant Comcast), computer games (Xbox) and even philanthropy (the $24 billion Gates Foundation). Gates, 46, was slow to recognize the importance of the Internet. But with his ambitious .NET initiative--and diminished pressure from antitrust regulators--the world's richest man may end up dominating a whole new realm: cyberspace.

3 JERRY LEVIN AND STEVE CASE Given the big egos of CEOs, it's no surprise that when companies merge, one boss usually departs. But since the creation of AOL TIME WARNER in January 2000, chairman Steve Case, 43, and CEO Jerry Levin, 62, have shown a unity of purpose at odds with the B-school case studies. It helps that they share a vision: subscriptions. Add up AOL, cable TV and magazines, and they have 137 million people mailing in payments. This year the duo clung for too long to profit promises they couldn't keep. But as they direct Warner Bros., CNN and the Time Inc. magazines, Case and Levin wield unrivaled influence on global culture.

4 SIR JOHN BROWNE Energy executives and environmentalists were like oil and water until Browne, 53, changed the rules of engagement in a 1997 speech announcing a greener direction for BRITISH PETROLEUM. BP now limits its greenhouse-gas emissions and has invested $1 billion in solar-energy technology, becoming the world's largest photovoltaic manufacturer. At the same time, he has taken BP from near obscurity to the world's No. 3 oil company, buying competitors like Amoco and inspiring other execs to copy his formula for blending environmentalism and strong earnings.

5 BOB RUBIN His nameplate is gone from the office of the Treasury Secretary, but in some respects, Rubin, 63, never really left. Now a top executive at CITIGROUP, the man who steered President Clinton through financial crises to the nation's longest boom gets invited to private meetings of top congressional leaders from which the current Treasury Secretary is excluded. Since Sept. 11, Rubin has helped Congress shape a stimulus package. He even testified alongside Alan Greenspan when the Fed chief delivered his damage assessment to a closed session of the Finance Committee.