Ford

* * * * * * * * * * DESCRIPTION * * * * * * * * * *

Carlos Ghosn - President of Nissan Motor and Renault S.A.. Nicknamed "Le Cost Killer," he was installed by Renault (which owns 44% of Nissan) to bring the Japanese carmaker back from the brink of financial disaster. After becoming president, the Brazilian-born Ghosn pledged either to return Nissan to the black within a year or step down. He made good on his promise and then some. To save Nissan he locked horns with bribe-demanding Yakuza gangsters, Japanese labor unions, and the Nissan "keiretsu" (a corporate family of suppliers and customers built around a complex web of cross-ownerships). As reward for his efforts, Ghosn was named CEO of Renault in addition to his duties at Nissan in 2005.