James C. Morgan (1993) is in a class by himself, likely ranking as the best business executive of the eighties, comparing his accomplishments to executives in other industries
- He came to Applied Materials as a turnaround artist, taking them from near failure to being one of the most successful companies in the history of the equipment industry
- He developed a method of financing that enabled equipment companies to grow profitably while introducing new products
- Invented the “Cash is King” model in era where debt reigned
- Mr. Morgan has also developed innovative ways to attract the best people in the industry, gotten them to work together (in spite of clashing egos), and provided the incentives that led to the introduction of innovative products
- He literally wrote the book on how to compete with Japan
- Applied Materials was largely successful because of its thrust into Japan in the eighties
- It learned to compete in this market better than many Japanese companies, and pushed many of them aside to gain its dominance