Title: Chairman and CEO
Company: Xerox
Company rank: 144
Age: 54
Compensation: $13.5 million
When Anne Mulcahy took over Xerox in 2001, the problems were not as simple as replacing a toner cartridge. Error signals were flashing: The company was under investigation by the SEC for overstating its financial results and was facing $15 billion of mounting debt.
After successfully completing the daunting task of engineering Xerox out of its predicaments, Mulcahy emerged with one of the best comeback stories of corporate America. Today, sales have steadily increased to $17.2 billion, an 8% increase over last year, and the company has a brighter future thanks to bets it placed on color printing and document management.
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