World Beaters

By Barbara Kiviat

KIMBERLY DALY Microsoft Manager

Daly paced herself to run the Paris Marathon, but when it comes to climbing Microsoft's corporate ladder, the 36-year-old sprints. In a decade she advanced from account rep to head of the company's largest domestic sales region. During the three years Daly was general manager for the New York--New Jersey district, sales in the business-products line shot up 114%. This summer, Daly hopped to Paris to run the company's $500 million communications division, covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

DAVID MACKAY Cereal COO

Kellogg Co. has a new COO--Mackay, 48, a New Zealand native who had run the cereal maker's U.S. division since 2000. Under Mackay, Kellogg regained its status as the country's top cereal seller from General Mills after shifting its focus from discounts and volume sales to value and a broader product line, including more expensive offerings. Now Mackay will get to run operations in more than 180 countries. He will also oversee growth of the company's snack division, begun in 2001 with the acquisition of the cookie company Keebler Foods.

JEANNETTE WONG Banking Boss

After holding the top job in Singapore for J.P. Morgan Chase, Wong, 43, was snatched up in February by DBS Group Holdings, parent of Singapore's largest bank. As chief administrative officer, she wasted no time in designing new structures for how the bank handles everything from diversifying loan-portfolio risk to recruiting employees. In October, Wong moved up to CFO. Her charge: to add greater sophistication to the way DBS manages its capital and help the company further expand into Asian countries such as China, India, Thailand and Indonesia.

LAZARUS ZIM Mine Master

Zim, 43, recently traded telecom for something more earthy, joining British mining outfit Anglo American as deputy CEO for South Africa. As head of the international division at MTN Group, a South African mobile-phone operator, he led an expansion into the Nigerian market, where the company now claims 1.3 million subscribers and 59% market share. A fan of jazz and biographies, he will help AA with strategy, government relations and black economic empowerment initiatives.