When Omar Ishrak took command as CEO of Medtronic, the company was facing difficult times. Issues at the time included a low stock price, poor pacemaker sales, few innovative devices and a series of ethics investigations.

While working as CEO, Ishrak has addressed all of these issues while prioritizing the company's expansion into emerging markets such as China and India. His efforts seem to be paying off. This year, Medtronic has seen a 27 percent share growth this year, handily beating the S&P 500. The company's stock is up more than 70 percent since it bottomed out in August 2011, when it hit $30.18. At the time of writing, on July 22, 2013, the firm's stock was worth $55.48.

When asked what he thought of his achievements, the CEO said, "I think that's for others to judge. I can tell you from the satisfaction perspective, it's very high. I've enjoyed every minute. I feel we can make a difference."

One of Ishak's top ethical achievements involved the Infuse spine fusion product. Unlike many other companies in the medtech industry, Medtronic agreed to release full clinical data for review by a third party. Some of this information may have been detrimental to getting the Infuse spine fusion product to market. Nonetheless, Ishrak still pushed to release this data to the public, showing the translucency of his company.

Ishrak has also been successful at R&D investment. Out of the company's total revenue last year, almost 40% came from products that were introduced over the past 36 months. It should be noted, however that under Ishrak's leadership, the company has laid off thousands of employees.