Despite thin profit margins and the big expense, American Chief Executive Gerard Arpey believes the project is crucial.

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Deere's chairman and chief executive is Hans Becherer, 63, a thin, patrician-looking former Goldman, Sachs investment banker who has been with Deere for 30 years.

FORBES: Bucking the downtrend

Of course, Lars Nyberg, the thin, deliberate Swede who is NCR's 46- year-old chief executive, knows you can't live on past glory.

FORBES: Too little and probably too late

Increased executive workloads "are unsustainable" because employers have stretched their leaders too thin for too long, concluded a majority of 153 U.S. recruiters polled in late May by ExecuNet, a job-search network for executives.

WSJ: How Google's Marissa Mayer and Others Manage Time and Relieve Stress

At a lunch at One Market in San Francisco, Chris Gronet, a Solyndra founder and then-chief executive, pulled from a case a long cylindrical tube that was coated in thin-film solar cells.

FORBES: What Solyndra's Bankruptcy Means For Silicon Valley Solar Startups