When Dave Lesar announced in March 2007 that one of America's most famous companies, Halliburton, would be moving to Dubai, from the fallout you'd have been forgiven for thinking he had suggested the company give up all things oil-related.

Chairman, president and CEO of the oilfield services corporation, Lesar's decision to open the company's ‘second headquarters' in the UAE was attacked by US senators on both sides of the house. But who's laughing now? Halliburton's stock performance since the move has been stellar.

Lesar is a 1978 graduate of the University of Wisconsin where he earned his BSc and MBA degrees. As a certified public accountant and with a sixteen-year career at Arthur Andersen under his belt, Lesar was first hired by Halliburton in 1993. Lesar's stewardship of Halliburton has never been far from controversy, but he survived all of the brickbats and is today one of the most powerful corporate figures in the Gulf.