Family Life

04.05.10 | FL News Team

Americans love success and they love the successful Warren Buffett the most, leader of Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated. That's according to a newly released Harris Interactive survey of the ten most and least admired companies in the U.S. Johnson & Johnson, last year's top ranked company, is now ranked number-two this year, followed by Google and 3M. Consumer products maker SC Johnson rounds out the top five. The survey also found America has a fairly dim view of corporations in general these days. Eighty-one-percent of those polled told Harris Interactive that the reputation of corporations is "not good" or "terrible."

 Americans seem to admire effective management as evidenced by Ford Motor Company. The only U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy and taking bailout funds rose to 37th on the list, up from 51st last year. At the bottom of the list is Freddie Mac, the government-controlled company that's the second largest provider of money for mortgages in the U.S. The second least admired company is American International Group, followed by Fannie Mae and Citigroup. Goldman Sachs is fifth from the bottom followed closely by Chrysler and General Motors.