Businessweek announce the best performing top 5 companies in the world - but the only competitors have to be S&P 500 companies.

Nope, last year’s #1 company, Google did not make the list, it was actually #34!

Here are the 2008 winners:

1. Coach - Yeah, seriously they make handbags.

* They were awarded for being the best at adapting to the shifting economy. Basically people are poorer, so they released cheaper handbags.

2. Gilead Sciences - A biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes therapies for viral diseases, infectious diseases and cancer.

* They are being rewarded for innovating in medications for HIV patients. They’ve made a treatment that allows just ONE pill a day, rather than 20 that many patients have to take.

3. Allegheny Technologies - One of the largest and most diversified specialty metals producers in the world with revenues of $5.5 billion during 2007.

4. Verizon Communications - We all know Verizon, phone, cell phone and high speed interenet.

5. Questar - Questar Corporation is a natural gas-focused energy company.

Too bad for our friends at Apple, they were in at #6 - I guess if they had partnered with Verizon rather than AT&T, maybe they could have made the top 5?

So there you go enterprising CEOs - a list of companies to aspire to.

Popularity: 45% [?]

I suspect highly that this is a joke by Google or else someone there is on some good crack…

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/customtime/index.html

Google is allowing you to BACK date your e-mails and send e-mails to the past (but of course only until April1, 2004 - launch date). This is such a weird April Fool’s joke, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense…

How do I use it?

Just click “Set custom time” from the Compose view. Any email you send to the past appears in the proper chronological order in your recipient’s inbox. You can opt for it to show up read or unread by selecting the appropriate option.

Here is another one…

Ahhh Google and their sense of humor - keeping it real and great culture.

All you entrepreneurs and CEOs can learn something from them!

Popularity: 30% [?]

Everyday something about Google continues to surprise/amaze me. Besides the fact that there stock is getting slammed right now because of flat numbers, lack of growth, etc… What really shocked me was the recent salaries the two Google founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page and the CEO Eric Schmidt just took.

Google’s stock is sitting from a high of above $747 to now only $450, nearly a $300 drop - yet still, Sergey, Larry and Eric have the NERVE to take such outrageous salaries?

What did they take?

$1 flat - that’s right, their salaries were just $1.

But, before you feel bad for them, know this - both the founders are still worth close to $13 Billion EACH and the CEO is worth just over $4.3 Billion…

So, yes, if I was worth that much, I’d take $1 as a salary, but for now - please give me my money! 

Source of content - VentureBeat.com

Popularity: 35% [?]