J. Wayne Leonard, chairman and chief executive officer of Entergy Corporation, is the top CEO in the power industry and a member of the "2010 All-America Executive Team," according to rankings compiled by Institutional Investor magazine.
Entergy also was listed as the top electric utility in the country and among the top nine companies in the nation, making it one of the "Most Honored Companies" included in the magazine's survey of more than 1,350 securities analysts representing more than 500 securities firms and financial institutions.
Included on the "All-America Executive Team" was executive vice president and chief financial officer Leo Denault, who was ranked as the best CFO in the power industry.
Leonard has ranked as one of the top CEOs in the nation for seven consecutive years in the magazine's survey. He is the only CEO included among the top four electric utility CEOs in the rankings every year since they began in 2004. He was named top CEO in the power industry in 2004.
The ranking by Institutional Investor follows Leonard being named a finalist in September 2009 for CEO of the Year in the Global Energy Awards for a record ninth consecutive year on the strength of his leadership and his advocacy of a robust federal policy to combat climate change. He won that award in 2003.
It is the second straight year Institutional Investor's survey rated Denault as the best CFO in the electric utility sector. Denault was rated the top CFO by sell-side analysts with major brokerages, and he tied for first in the survey of buy-side analysts. He has finished among the top five CFOs in the industry in each of the last five years.
In addition, analysts said Entergy's investor relations department was the best in the industry. It is the second straight year the department has been among the top performers.
Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $10 billion and approximately 14,700 employees.