Investors can breath a sigh of relief Tuesday over what kind of executive will move into the desk of Roger Agnelli, the recently ousted CEO of Brazilian multinational mining company Vale.

FORBES: Market Will Like New Vale CEO Ferreira

Paris time, he slides behind his desk in the chief executive suite at Renault to begin another long day.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Back in the office, still in full Elmo regalia, I made my way to the desk of Fleming Meeks, the executive editor of Barron's.

WSJ: Getting Into a Character

Safia Yassin Farah is 34 and her desk is that of a high-flying executive anywhere in the world, except that the view from her office is of high walls, wire and armed guards.

BBC: Somali women seek a brighter future in Mogadishu

In a 1971 episode of British science show "Tomorrow's World", a reporter plays with various desk toys, in imitation of a lonely executive whose workload has been reduced to the point of boredom because of computers.

CNN: Toy story: Office playthings come of age

The other is when a top banker quits after some expensive fiasco the resignation of Martin Taylor as chief executive of Britain's Barclays Bank was only the latest in a series of desk-clearings by bank bosses (see article).

ECONOMIST: The doomed and the dangerous | The

"With broadband on every desk, the opportunity to sell is monstrous, " says Gary Rieschel, the top executive at Softbank Venture Capital.

FORBES: Land Grab

Mark Hurd had one key memento on his desk: His name plate from the day when, as the newly-minted chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, he had to testify before Congress about his involvement in taping the phone calls of journalists and HP employees.

FORBES: Hurd's Hurt