Whether or not you admire Welch, one thing is undeniable: under his stewardship, GE became one of the greatest wealth creation machines ever. The stock price multiplied almost thirty-fold and the company's market capitalization increased by hundreds of billions of dollars as GE became the ultimate blue chip investment.

Welch streamlined a corporate conglomerate that is among the market leaders for nearly every industry in which it competes, from lightbulbs and electric appliances to jet engines to power plants to financing to broadcast television. Many proteges of Welch have gone on to top posts at other companies such as 3M, and the management methods and cost-control ideas of Welch's GE, particularly the "Six Sigma" program, have often been held up as a model for other companies to follow. As a result, Welch went from being "Neutron Jack" -- one of his first acts as GE's boss was to lay off several thousand people -- to being hailed as one of the greatest business leaders in U.S. history.

But since Welch retired from GE last year, his image has been tarnished a bit. Welch found himself held up as yet another symbol of executive greed and corporate governance gone awry, after The New York Times reported the contents of a divorce filing that detailed Welch's retirement compensation. Although he has since announced that he would pay for his GE perks, the image of excess remains in some people's minds.

Perhaps more significantly, some people in recent months have questioned whether GE was truly a well-managed company or just another serial acquirer, especially given the market's current concerns over corporate accounting in general. Although most people believe GE's books are legally clean, observers such as well-known bond investor Bill Gross point out that GE carries enormous debt. Former Merrill Lynch analyst Jeanne Terrile last year estimated that acquisitions fueled 40 percent of GE's revenue growth from 1985 through 2000. And one of GE's biggest businesses, GE Capital, has murkier earnings than many would prefer.

Still, most executives wish they could match Welch's achievement of building a massive profit machine without breaking any securities laws.

Welch was born in Salem in 1936. He received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Massachusetts in 1957, and graduate degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1960.

In 1960, Welch joined GE as a chemical engineer for its Plastics division in Pittsfield, Mass. He was elected the company's youngest vice president in 1972 and was named vice chairman in 1979. He became chairman and CEO in April 1981 and retired in September 2001, to be followed by his hand-picked successor, Jeffrey Immeldt. Welch is still a consultant to FORTUNE 500 executives.

The 107th mayor of New York City became an American icon for his steady leadership in the aftermath of last year's terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, but even before then, he was arguably one of the most successful mayors in his city's history.

A walk through the cleaner, more family-friendly Times Square these days presents a marked contrast to the sleazy -- perhaps charming, but still sleazy -- mixture of adult-entertainment venues and theaters that once characterized the city's famous center. More concrete evidence can be found in the form of statistics: last year's FBI figures indicate that New York's crime rate, once one of the highest in the United States, is now the second-lowest among the 50 largest U.S. cities -- a point of pride for Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor who made his name fighting organized crime.

Giuliani rebalanced New York City's budget even though he inherited a $2 billion deficit. And the city during his administration also saw one of its highest job growth periods ever, although the Internet bubble and the booming U.S. economy overall probably deserve much of the credit. In fact, since the market turned south more than two and a half years ago, New York's economy has suffered as the financial industry and Silicon Alley have been decimated. As a result, the budget has again turned into a problem for Giuliani's successor, Michael Bloomberg.

Having stepped down from the mayor's job at the end of 2001 as a result of term limits, Giuliani now has a consulting business that advises organizations on crisis management, ethical behavior and security. "We are trying to take what we were able to do in government and make it work in the private sector," Giuliani recently told BusinessWeek. "That is what I know how to do -- organize and reorganize and establish accountability."

Among his clients is Merrill Lynch, which hired Giuliani in the wake of criticism leveled by Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and others who viewed Merrill's stock research teams as duplicitous and riven by conflicts of interest. Giuliani also was reportedly angling for the chairmanship of troubled telecom firm Worldcom, although he didn't get it. And Giuliani, who considered running for the U.S. Senate in 2000 before he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, has said he may run for political office again.

Doll joined Merrill Lynch Investment Management in 1999 and has held a variety of senior management positions, including global chief investment officer and co-head of the Americas region, prior to his present role. In addition to his management and global investment responsibilities, Doll is senior portfolio manager of the Merrill Lynch Large Cap Growth Fund, the Merrill Lynch Large Cap Core Fund, and the Merrill Lynch Large Cap Value Fund.

He writes Merrill Lynch's weekly Investment Commentary on current and prospective market activity and is a frequent media commentator on financial markets and mutual funds. Prior to joining MLIM, Doll was chief investment officer of OppenheimerFunds, where he directed a staff of more than 100 people managing the firm’s $100 billion in assets. He was also a member of Oppenheimer's executive committee. From 1980 to 1987, he was equity research analyst and portfolio manager for Citicorp Investment Management.

Born in 1954, Doll graduated in 1976 from Lehigh University with bachelor’s degrees in accounting and economics. He received an MBA in 1980 from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania . He is a CFA charterholder and a certified public accountant.