"Bill Gates" - no question about it, given the length of time he's been a famous and amount of PR about him. Nobody else on that list is even close.

I agree with Seth. The only person who could possibly rival Bill is probably Steve Jobs but I still don't think it'd be all that close.

If you were to be a bit flexible in your definition of "business leader", I'd place Bono at the top. As the leader (actual or de facto) of U2 (a multi-million dollar enterprise), DATA (Debt, Trade, AIDS, Afica, which has influenced global leaders resulting in billions in debt forgiveness), ONE.org, and the newly launched (RED) branded merchandise, he is absolutely at the top of business-driven global, social change.

And to show how smart he is, he has enlisted Bill & Melinda's help. I haven't seen that type of thought leadership - on a global scale - for a long time.

Since Bill Gates doesn't have his own TV show yet, I'd say Donald Trump. "Most Recognized" probably has more to do with media coverage than anything else, and I can think of fewer business people in the press more often than Trump. He just runs in those circles more than most.

Also, I would think Warren Buffett would be on that list long before Jim Cramer or Rupert Murdoch. And if you can find someone in a WalMart who knows the names of the founders of Google, I'll give you a nickel.

Chris -- You're right on. I'm sure that Wal-mart bet would be a bad one to take.

And yes, Buffet and Trump should be on the list. Not sure what the hell I was thinking of by excluding them.

P.

Has to be Trump. Gates is more evocative of "nerd" than tycoon.

And even though I live in Omaha, Trump is a bigger name than Buffett.

(What a commentary on the place of business in Maerican popular culture...)

The answer would vary depending on if your question is US-specific or globally. Globally, my feeling is that Bill Gates would trump everyone else by a huge margin. Trump, Buffet, Welch, Jobs, et al don't stand a chance of being recognized outside of the US (and if we are being charitable, perhaps the UK).

Unfortunately, Trump was the first thing I thought of too. It's more than a little ironic that the most visible representative of the American business world is a puffed-up blowhard with a bad hairdo and a net worth that is almost certainly orders of magnitude smaller than he continually claims it is.

So, the moral of this story is apparently that unless you're the wealthiest person in the world, you'll be better know if you have a TV show. Good to know.

No question about it Trump tops the list. You gotta hand it to him, he has done one of the greatest PR jobs I have ever seen. One other person I would add is Larry Ellison.

What about Richard Branson? In terms of global notoriety, he would seem to be bigger than the others.

I'd say Donald Trump, since he's had a TV show, in terms of people recognizing his likeness. However, in terms of sheer popularity, Gates is probably ahead of him, based on his sexy tag as "the richest man on earth".

Gates' recognition is due as much to unsavory reputation as popularity. He may be a hero to holders of MSFT stock in the 1990's but he's better known to far more as the man who invented the BSOD and made you pay for software he copied from the Mac and Gary Kildall.

I like Branson and Trump much better--Brin and Page are true heros who actually invented something and have noble goals (no, they're not perfect but they most often seem to be advancing civilization).

Is it possibly Ken Lay? Unfortunately, he got a lot of PR ... even if it was for breaking the law.