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When in doubt, our respondents also gave the back of their hand to many French and Italian companies.
How, then, to explain the dismal showing of 89th-ranked Time Warner (TWX, news, msgs), which makes its home in midtown Manhattan and is as familiar as any company to the majority of our respondents? True, Time Warner is on the rise in Wall Street's esteem: It was voted dead last in 2006 and No. 98 in 2005. Still, the taint of its disastrous merger with AOL and the wealth destruction that wrought are proving durable.
The stock has been dead flat for years, though it got a short-term lift after CEO Richard Parsons acceded to a large share buyback, in part to placate shareholder activist Carl Icahn. "People were so burnt (after the merger)," says Richard Steinberg. "Any investor who holds the stock now has been waiting for a turnaround that's always on the come."
It is unclear just what the hostile ranks of investors would like Parsons to have done differently since taking the reins in 2002 from merger architect Gerald Levin. He has spun off part of Time Warner Cable (TWC, news, msgs), kept costs in check, silenced the civil war among former AOL and Time Warner managers, and generally restored some pride to the organization. And Time Warner's brands are as vital and irreplaceable as ever, except for the structurally disadvantaged but not-very-big print-magazine division.
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Perhaps most important, Parsons has all but selected a successor whom constituents have embraced: President Jeffrey Bewkes, who is widely expected to take over when Parsons retires. One survey participant advises that "the planned CEO succession should be accelerated."
Survey results
In Barron's annual survey, money managers indicate the degree to which they respect -- or don't -- the world's largest publicly traded companies (as measured by market value). A point value was assigned to each of the four categories to determine mean scores. Most of the top 10 companies are repeat winners.| 2007 rank | 2006 rank | Company | Mean score | Highly respect | Respect | Respect somewhat | Don't respect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | 4.43 | 75% | 16% | 4% | 1% | |
2 | 1 | 4.3 | 65 | 29 | 2 | 0 | |
3 | 4 | 4.2 | 60 | 26 | 5 | 0 | |
4 | 3 | 4.18 | 60 | 32 | 2 | 1 | |
5 | 2 | 4.16 | 60 | 32 | 4 | 0 | |
6 | 22 | 3.68 | 42 | 46 | 5 | 2 | |
7 | 18 | 3.67 | 38 | 38 | 9 | 0 | |
8 | N/A | 3.63 | 45 | 35 | 12 | 2 | |
9 | 30 | 3.59 | 38 | 47 | 4 | 3 | |
10 | 7 | 3.58 | 39 | 45 | 9 | 1 | |
11 | 19 | 3.52 | 36 | 41 | 11 | 1 | |
12 | 6 | 3.51 | 38 | 40 | 13 | 1 | |
13 | 40 | 3.49 | 36 | 46 | 11 | 1 | |
14 | 13 | 3.48 | 35 | 45 | 11 | 1 | |
15 | 8 | 3.46 | 43 | 36 | 13 | 4 | |
16 | 12 | 3.44 | 37 | 39 | 13 | 2 | |
17 | 21 | 3.44 | 38 | 40 | 9 | 4 | |
18 | 28 | 3.27 | 31 | 47 | 16 | 1 | |
19 | 25 | 3.14 | 26 | 47 | 16 | 2 | |
20 | 16 | 3.07 | 27 | 39 | 18 | 3 | |
21 | 17 | 3.07 | 28 | 43 | 17 | 4 | |
22 | 20 | 3.07 | 32 | 39 | 16 | 6 | |
23 | 24 | 3.05 | 23 | 46 | 17 | 2 | |
24 | 14 | 3.03 | 22 | 42 | 19 | 1 | |
25 | 23 | 2.93 | 23 | 40 | 22 | 2 | |
26 | 27 | 2.91 | 19 | 48 | 21 | 1 | |
27 | 49 | 2.89 | 21 | 46 | 24 | 1 | |
28 | 26 | 2.81 | 22 | 39 | 28 | 1 | |
29 | 38 | 2.78 | 18 | 53 | 20 | 4 | |
30 | 84 | 2.77 | 22 | 43 | 22 | 5 | |
31 | 56 | 2.72 | 16 | 49 | 24 | 2 | |
32 | 35 | 2.7 | 16 | 44 | 22 | 3 | |
33 | 33 | 2.7 | 21 | 41 | 24 | 5 | |
34 | 41 | 2.68 | 16 | 43 | 25 | 2 | |
35 | 34 | 2.66 | 13 | 45 | 20 | 3 | |
36 | 60 | 2.58 | 16 | 43 | 26 | 4 | |
37 | 45 | 2.57 | 15 | 51 | 20 | 7 | |
38 | 54 | 2.52 | 16 | 31 | 31 | 2 | |
39 | 47 | 2.51 | 14 | 40 | 21 | 6 | |
40 | 52 | 2.44 | 15 | 43 | 25 | 7 | |
41 | 50 | 2.43 | 13 | 44 | 33 | 3 | |
42 | 36 | 2.4 | 9 | 46 | 33 | 2 | |
43 | N/A | 2.39 | 6 | 47 | 27 | 2 | |
44 | 55 | 2.39 | 9 | 45 | 33 | 2 | |
45 | 57 | 2.35 | 11 | 38 | 28 | 4 | |
46 | 48 | 2.35 | 9 | 45 | 22 | 7 | |
47 | 53 | 2.25 | 8 | 40 | 26 | 6 | |
48 | 42 | 2.23 | 9 | 36 | 27 | 6 | |
49 | 51 | 2.22 | 8 | 39 | 27 | 6 | |
50 | 37 | 2.2 | 8 | 42 | 31 | 6 | |
51 | 58 | 2.19 | 9 | 39 | 38 | 4 | |
52 | 44 | 2.18 | 13 | 36 | 29 | 9 | |
53 | 63 | 2.17 | 9 | 44 | 32 | 8 | |
54 | 29 | 2.11 | 7 | 40 | 34 | 6 | |
55 | 95 | 2.02 | 8 | 41 | 29 | 12 | |
56 | n/a | 2 | 6 | 31 | 34 | 5 | |
57 | 65 | 1.99 | 5 | 41 | 23 | 12 | |
58 | 64 | 1.96 | 6 | 34 | 34 | 7 | |
59 | 32 | 1.93 | 6 | 35 | 27 | 11 | |
60 | 67 | 1.93 | 9 | 38 | 35 | 13 | |
61 | 80 | 1.91 | 6 | 42 | 32 | 13 | |
62 | 68 | 1.88 | 5 | 31 | 37 | 6 | |
63 | 89 | 1.88 | 6 | 28 | 35 | 7 | |
64 | 59 | 1.86 | 7 | 26 | 37 | 7 | |
65 | N/A | 1.81 | 7 | 26 | 35 | 9 | |
66 | 78 | 1.78 | 5 | 29 | 34 | 9 | |
67 | 71 | 1.76 | 6 | 34 | 40 | 12 | |
68 | 61 | 1.76 | 12 | 26 | 32 | 17 | |
69 | 92 | 1.76 | 9 | 31 | 41 | 14 | |
70 | 76 | 1.74 | 3 | 31 | 31 | 9 | |
71 | 88 | 1.72 | 3 | 31 | 33 | 9 | |
72 | 87 | Sumitomo Mitsui* (Japan) | 1.71 | 7 | 21 | 36 | 9 |
73 | 85 | 1.71 | 6 | 22 | 41 | 7 | |
74 | N/A | 1.64 | 7 | 18 | 38 | 9 | |
75 | N/A | 1.61 | 5 | 23 | 37 | 11 | |
76 | 75 | 1.61 | 2 | 27 | 34 | 9 | |
77 | 74 | 1.61 | 4 | 23 | 36 | 9 | |
78 | N/A | 1.57 | 2 | 34 | 26 | 16 | |
79 | 90 | 1.49 | 2 | 27 | 35 | 13 | |
80 | 86 | 1.48 | 3 | 25 | 43 | 12 | |
81 | 94 | 1.47 | 3 | 21 | 37 | 11 | |
82 | N/A | 1.41 | 2 | 21 | 39 | 11 | |
83 | N/A | 1.4 | 4 | 18 | 40 | 12 | |
84 | 91 | 1.4 | 1 | 24 | 37 | 12 | |
85 | 81 | HBOS* (United Kingdom( | 1.39 | 4 | 17 | 38 | 12 |
86 | 93 | 1.38 | 1 | 21 | 41 | 9 | |
87 | 98 | 1.36 | 1 | 26 | 40 | 14 | |
88 | N/A | 1.36 | 1 | 27 | 39 | 15 | |
89 | 100 | 1.35 | 3 | 24 | 47 | 15 | |
90 | 62 | 1.3 | 1 | 23 | 46 | 13 | |
91 | 72 | 1.29 | 0 | 26 | 38 | 15 | |
92 | N/A | 1.28 | 1 | 18 | 39 | 11 | |
93 | N/A | 1.23 | 3 | 17 | 38 | 15 | |
94 | 70 | 1.22 | 2 | 18 | 44 | 14 | |
95 | N/A | 1.21 | 3 | 12 | 45 | 11 | |
96 | N/A | 1.08 | 1 | 17 | 41 | 16 | |
97 | 99 | 0.83 | 2 | 12 | 37 | 22 | |
98 | N/A | 0.2 | 0 | 8 | 24 | 36 | |
99 | N/A | Rosneft* (Russia) | 0.17 | 0 | 8 | 23 | 37 |
100 | N/A | -0.12 | 0 | 7 | 20 | 52 |
*Response rates were below 75%. N/A: The company was too small to make the survey in 2006. For some companies, the total does not equal 100% because of rounding.
This article was reported and written by Michael Santoli for Barron's.
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