Corporate growth is as much a story of a personality cult as it is of innovation and market timing. Whoever tries to diminish the importance of a visionary CEO should peruse Steve Jobs' biography and the outsized role that he played in propelling Apple to the apex of the global tech industry.

It is perhaps due to Steve Jobs' larger-than-life persona that Tim Cook, Apple's incumbent CEO, is perceived as a relatively bland leader. This perception is quite surprising when one considers the fact that Apple has never had a greater heft than what it does right now, worth over a tenth of the US GDP. Yet, based on certain metrics, this perception is indeed warranted, and the company, without its beloved and charismatic leader, appears stagnated.

September 16: A Date Touched By Destiny In Apple's

See Full Page