10 interesting facts about 10 famous CEOs

New Delhi: Chief executive officers are the rock stars of their company. They have the responsibility to facilitate the operation of the whole company, give advice to the board and implement plans. However, like anyone else, they've got their quirks. Here are some really interesting facts you probably didn't know about these 10 famous CEOs.John MackeyWhole Foods CEO John MackeyIn 1978, John Mackey and his girlfriend at the time, Renee Lawson Hardy, borrowed $45,000 and started Safer Way, a vegetarian food store in Austin, Texas, where local farmers and bakers would drop off corn stalks, squash, wildflower honey and home-made pumpkin loaves from battered pick-up trucks. The couple lived above the store and since they didn't had a bathtub as it was supposed to be a commercial space, so they washed in the dishwasher, which had a hose. Donald TrumpThere are some interesting elements from Trump's own ancestry. Donald Trump's family name was actually “Drumpf” as his grandfather was a German immigrant named Frederick Drumpf who emigrated to the U.S. in 1885 and became a naturalized citizen in 1892. His grandfather likely changed it to avoid prejudice Americans held against Germans during the World War II era. Marissa MayerMarissa Mayer, the chief of Yahoo!, recently showed her glamorous side in the new issue of Vogue. Wearing a blue Michael Kors dress, Saint Laurent shoes, she posed for an Old Hollywood-style glamour shot for the September issue of Vogue. Just like a Hollywood star, Mayer reclined backward on a shapely piece of lawn furniture, and gazed into Mikael Jansson's camera, and tossed back a tablet device.She also has an affinity for cupcakes. She admits to creating a spreadsheet to test out ingredients and icing before writing her own recipes.Michael DellFrom an early age, Michael Dell was fascinated by both business and electronics. At age eight he applied to take a high school equivalency exam, hoping to get out of school and into the business world faster. In his teens, he used the money he earned from part-time jobs to invest in stocks and precious metals. At age 15, he bought one of the first Apple computers and immediately disassembled it, to see if he could put it back together.Asa CandlerAfter buying the recipe from John Pemberton, Coca-Cola founder Asa Candler became paranoid about his competitors. He instructed his staff to never write down the secret recipe and to remove all labels from containers (identifying ingredients by sight and smell only).Tim CookApple boss Tim Cook said he was ready to jump ship from Compaq to Apple just five minutes into his 1998 interview with late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Cook said he had been getting repeated calls in 1998 from an executive search firm hired by Jobs to find an operations executive. After saying no multiple times, Cook finally agreed to an interview.Walt DisneyWalt Disney created Mickey Mouse after losing the copyrights to his first popular character, a rabbit named Oswald. However, Disney's company got the rights back 78 years later in 2006.Larry EllisonOracle founder and CEO Larry Ellison is a friend of late Steve Jobs. And when Ellison married novelist Melanie Craft in 2003, Jobs was the official wedding photographer. The other photographer was Ellison's son David.Kumar Mangalam BirlaKumar Mangalam Birla, CEO of Aditya Birla Group, learnt how to shoot with a rifle but instead he is now shooting with the camera.Chanda D KochharChanda D Kochhar, Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank, designs many of the saris she wears herself.