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Tim Cook is named CNN's best CEO of 2014

Tim Cook is named CNN's best CEO of 2014

December 23, 2014

Tim Cook has been named CNN’s best CEO of 2014. He bested the leaders of BlackBerry, Microsoft, and General Motors for the honor.

CNN cites the “latest iPhones and Apple Pay service as well as excitement about the Apple Watch due out in 2015” as reasons for the choice.

They note:

Cook has arguably the toughest CEO job in America. He’s had to convince skeptics that Apple can still innovate after the death of Steve Jobs. He’s proven all the naysayers wrong.

BlackBerry CEO John Chen is No. 2 on the list.

Called “the comeback kid,” Chen is praised for stopping the bleeding at the Canadian tech giant. “He’s focused more on software and is not trying to win smartphone market share from fickle consumers at all costs.”

Satya Nadella

Satya Nadella

At No. 3 is Satya Nadella, who became Microsoft’s CEO in February.

Nadella is praised for Microsoft’s cloud and mobile strategy, but criticized for his “tone deaf comment about women.”

Earlier this year, the CEO said that it would be “good karma” for women not to fight for raises and instead trust the system.

Rounding out CNN’s top 10 are:

  • GM CEO Mary Barra
  • Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer
  • T-Mobile CEO John Legere
  • HP CEO Meg Whitman
  • Buffalo Wild Wings CEO Sally Smith
  • Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen
  • L Brands CEO Les Wexner

Earlier this month, Cook was named “Person of the Year” by The Financial Times. He was also a finalist for Time’s “Person of the Year.”

See also: Apple CEO Tim Cook gives ‘generous’ donation to LGBT equality campaignApple receives a perfect score in the latest Corporate Equality Index survey, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg goes after Tim Cook, Apple.

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