When You Wish Upon A Star: 3 CEO's Whose Dreams Came True This Year (F, AAPL, GM)

As 2011 approaches and we turn the page on 2010, let's look back at a few CEO's whose dreams came true this year, and helped shareholders in the process. Apple's AAPL Steve Jobs truly is the P.T. Barnum of our time. Jobs has turned around the music industry, the movie industry and the mobile phone industry. This year, he invented an industry many didn't think could succeed, including myself: the tablet. The iPad (despite the jokes about its name) has revolutionized the way people interact with the web, and do basic computing functions. It's allowed for more mobility than a laptop and is easier to use than a smart phone, and obviously is easier on the eyes. Jobs has also turned around his "hobby", as Apple TV is starting to sell like hotcakes, with a price cut to $99 and the ability to store purchases on the cloud. Jobs has revolutionized countless industries and even created new ones. Oh yeah. Remember this, he's also the largest shareholder in Disney DIS thanks to him being the CEO of Pixar, before it was acquired by Disney. I'd say he's had all of his dreams come true and more. Ford's F Allan Mulally is another CEO who saw his dreams come true in 2010. Ford has continued to take market share in the U.S. away from Toyota, as consumers continue to reward the Michigan-based automaker for not taking government bailout money. Shares have returned some 1600% since hitting under $1 per share in December 2008. Ford's cars, like the Fusion, Taurus and Escape have received strong Consumer Reports reviews and the company is paying down debt faster than it thought it would. Ford's return to profitability this year has been nothing short of astounding, as the company itself didn't expect to return to the black this fast. I say kudos Mr. Mulally, you are worth every penny Ford pays you. You've turned around a dying company and the American perception of a dying brand. Well done. The last CEO is not a single person, but a collective team. The team at General Motors GM. Ed Whitacre started off the year as the embattled automaker's CEO, and saw the turnaround from a company that had to file for bankruptcy and be bailed out by the U.S. taxpayer, due to a mountain of debt, products that the consumer didn't want, and enormous pension obligations. Whitacre and his team turned the company around to the point where it was able to go public last month. Dan Akerson is the new CEO and the company has returned to the black, posting a profit in its third quarter. The company also recently just launched its first electric car, the Chevy Volt, which so far, has exceeded expectations of those driving it and reviewing it. The company still has concerns about pension obligations, but is no longer under a mountain of debt and although many on the Street are skeptical of the long term health of the company, I'm going against the grain here. I believe GM will continue to come back in 2011 and prove the majority of Wall Street skeptics wrong. Look at what happened at Ford. Disclosure: no position in names mentioned