Mr Namah had eyes on the top job, but his ambitions led to a falling-out with his former boss on the campaign trail.

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The most obvious available candidate is Karen Katen , who just lost out for the top job at Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ) and is leaving that company.

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Mr. Sarkozy, who supported Mr. Strauss-Kahn's candidacy for the top IMF job in part to get him out of the country, would appear again to be the favorite.

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Mr Fahrholz had set out his ideas only in mid-May, soon after he got the top job (his predecessor, Bernhard Walter, was a casualty of the failed dalliance with Deutsche).

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Former Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United assistant manager Gus Poyet - the ex-Uruguay and Chelsea midfielder who is currently out of work - has also emerged as a front-runner for the Liberty Stadium top job.

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Mr Kleinfeld got the top job because of his reputation as a tough cost-cutter who pulled the company's American subsidiary out of the red.

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But after less than one day on the job, the Duke-dominated board pushed Johnson out and installed Jim Rogers, the former CEO of Duke, in the top job.

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In a likely share-out of top jobs, Mr Barzani said he would back his old rival, Mr Talabani, for a plum job in Iraq's national capital either as prime minister or president while he would expect the top job back home.

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