Forty-five years later, the 91-year-old devout Baptist remains CEO of the second largest fried chicken chain in the country -- only KFC is bigger.

FORBES: S. Truett Cathy

The sales pitch for HMA's 300 physician-recruiters touts tools like the dual-head nuclear medicine cameras at 36 of the chain's hospitals--and the only Gamma Knife in Mississippi.

FORBES: Surgery in The Sticks

Mandarin is also the only chain with a 5-Star in tourist mad Las Vegas.

FORBES: Peninsula Earns 5-Star Sweep, Other Luxury Chains Close Behind

Unfortunately many online reports on these sell-outs are pointing out that the sold-out locations received only a handful of units, and in the case of some chain stores just one or two Surface Pro units were supplied for the launch of the device.

FORBES: Microsoft's PR Team Misfires As The Surface Pro Launches

In Britain it is now on sale only in a few duty-free shops and on Virgin flights, though Virgin plans to launch a chain of Virgin Vodka bars.

ECONOMIST: Behind Branson

The non-bank participants in the global financial system are just as important, since the chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

WSJ: How Obama Can Fix the Economy

B2B exchanges will succeed only if traders have as much confidence that online deals will be honoured as they do in their established offline supply-chain.

ECONOMIST: E-commerce