Businessperson of the Year
Warren Buffett: The people's Businessperson of the Year
November 17, 2011: 12:22 PM ETBezos may be on fire, but the Oracle wins in the end.
By Shelley DuBois, writer-reporter
FORTUNE -- In a battle for business dominance, would you side with a colossal tech titan or a time-tested sage?
Amazon's (AMZN) Jeff Bezos and Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKA) Warren Buffett were the last two leaders standing after a little over two days of voting for Fortune's Businessperson of the Year's reader's choice award, a March Madness-style online contest in which Fortune's staff foisted some of the burden of choosing 2011's best in business on all of you, our readers.
You chose Buffett.
Your votes made for some interesting match-ups throughout the contest. For instance, a final four face-off pitted Amazon's Bezos against an insurgent Christine Day (who ousted Google's Larry Page from the race in Round 3), the CEO of Lululemon (LULU), a clothing store chain that sells high quality (and high-priced) women's athletic wear. To be sure, there is a fast-growing market for good-looking spandex attire, and Lululemon's stock price has increased by over 60%, year-to-date.
Amazon's Jeff Bezos is no stranger to growth either, which is particularly impressive given the online retailer's size: Amazon was among Fortune's fastest-growing companies this year and it is No. 78 on the Fortune 500. While recent spending on warehouses and technology has cut into its profits, the online retailer achieved a significant milestone this past May: for the first time, it sold more electronic than print books, certainly a victory for the e-commerce pioneer. More
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Howard Schultz brews strong coffee at Starbucks
He rescued the coffee chain. It had record financial results this year. Now the CEO is on a campaign to save the country from its politicians. Here's how he blends capitalism and activism.
By David A. Kaplan, contributor
FORTUNE -- The president of the United States wasn't on the phone to talk about Pumpkin Spice Latte.
Back in September, two days before Barack Obama delivered his speech to Congress on jobs, he put MORE
Nov 17, 2011 6:10 AM ET
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