Nation's CEOs Gather at Yale CEO Summit to Address Leadership Choices and to Honor Terry Semel, Chairman & CEO of Yahoo!

On June 9 and 10, 2005, 100 world-renowned chief executives, policy makers, and academics gathered at the 51st CEO Summit, "Is Sustainable High Performance Really a Myth?” to discuss their own choices of leadership. The CEO Summit, organized by the Yale School of Management’s The Chief Executive Leadership Institute, convened at the new World Headquarters of Bloomberg LP in New York City.

Terry Semel, the widely respected Chairman and CEO of Yahoo!, was presented with the Legend in Leadership Award by William Green, CEO of Accenture. Past winners of the Legend in Leadership Award include: former SEC Chairman William Donaldson; former J. Walter Thompson CEO Charlotte Beers; McKinsey founder Marvin Bower; Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone; Home Depot founder Bernard Marcus; and former PepsiCo CEO Roger Enrico.

This invitation-only leaders' conference featured lively, off-the-record, candid discussions with distinguished leaders. Session highlights included:

• Rival SEC commissioners Cynthia Glassman and Harvey Goldschmid discussing SEC leadership succession and its changing mission along with Congressman Chris Shays;

• Leaders of Goldman Sachs and Archipelago facing off with their current adversary, maverick investor Ken Langone;

• The CEOs or chairmen of Martha Stewart, HealthSouth and Toys “R” Us explaining their new directions to overcome recent high profile challenges;

• CEOs of St. Paul Travelers, Yellow Roadway, Medco, Invesco and Universal Health talking about how they have transformed their enterprises despite the impact of risk in the economy;

• PBS chief Pat Mitchell answering critics who charge a liberal bias in her broadcasts;

• Starwood Hotels CEO Steve Heyer detailing plans for a new 500-hotel chain, while CEOs from Accenture to Scotts to Sesame Street showing how they have kept invention alive as they’ve grown;

• Private equity wizards Steve Schwarzman of Blackstone and Steve Berger of Odyssey revealing the logic behind their latest targets of opportunity;

• CEOs of non-profits such as The American Red Cross, CARE, United Negro College Fund and Volunteers of America showing how they have maintained high performance in difficult contexts.

Dominant Career Education shareholder Steve Bostic offered his current proxy battle with management as a live case study.

Conference sponsors included: UPS, Accenture, ArcaEx, Bloomberg News, RHR International, and Russell Reynolds Associates.