Gates Chosen Most Influential Business Thinker

According to a survey of executives at more than 400 U.S. companies, the most influential business thinker of the last 100 years is William H. Gates III, chairman and CEO of Microsoft Corp. Twenty percent of those surveyed by Yankelovich Partners for Deloitte & Touche LLP chose Gates. Management theorist and author Peter Drucker was chosen by 16% of respondents as the most influential business thinker, and automobile industry founder Henry Ford was chosen by 14% of those surveyed. The Millennium Survey also asked executives to make predictions about the business environment as well as work/life issues in the year 2005. Fifteen percent of survey respondents predict General Electric Co. will be the most admired company in that year. Fourteen percent predict a new company not yet in existence will top the list.