2001: Where are they now?

(TIME/CNN) -- The first edition of Global Influentials, in 2001, focused on the heavy hitters of the business world. Two years later, most continue to rule the ring, but others have been staggered -- and in some cases, knocked out -- amid a lackluster economy.

WARREN BUFFETT

Warren Buffett's riches, as king of the Berkshire Hathaway empire, have made him one of the most-listened-to business leaders. Despite the economy's rocky ride since 2001, when Time and CNN listed him as one of their Global Influentials, little has changed.

Buffett still ranks as one of the world's wealthiest people, with a net worth estimated at $30.5 billion, placing him second behind Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates on Forbes' 2003 list.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based company that Buffett heads remains one of the most important in American business. The firm's diverse holdings range from Dairy Queen to Benjamin Moore paints to the Pampered Chef to Helzberg Diamonds.

Although Buffett's word traditionally carries significant weight in the business world, he made headlines recently in the political arena. The longtime Democratic supporter threw his weight behind actor-turned-Republican politician Arnold Schwarzenegger in the California gubernatorial recall election, and he now serves as a senior economic adviser to the newly elected governor.

STEVE CASE and JERRY LEVIN

No members of the 2001 Global Influentials class saw their fortunes change more drastically than Steve Case and Jerry Levin, engineers of the deal that brought together once-booming Internet portal America Online and media giant Time Warner Inc.

Many hailed the two men as visionaries when they helped form AOL Time Warner, the world's largest media company, in 2001. Two years later, both men have left their positions and the company they helped create has ceased to be, albeit in name only.

In fall 2003, following a period of poor fiscal performance, AOL was formally dropped from the name. It was a move the company said was made to "more accurately represent" their portfolio, but one that many critics claimed was due to concerns about the AOL unit's poor performance. (Time Warner is CNN's parent company.)

Yet the two men most closely linked to the merger -- and prime targets when the company failed to meet many expectations -- had relinquished their day-to-day roles before the name change. Levin retired in May 2002 as AOL Time Warner's chief executive officer, while Case stepped down as the company's chairman in January 2003.

JEFFREY IMMELT

Despite the difficult economy of recent years, General Electric is buzzing -- now, as in 2001, under the leadership of CEO Jeffrey Immelt.

In its latest blockbuster move, GE reached a final agreement in October 2003 to buy struggling Vivendi Universal's U.S. film, television and theme park businesses. The deal makes GE, which already owns NBC, a $43 billion entertainment behemoth that will operate under the name NBC Universal.

Immelt has engineered several other deals across the wide GE spectrum in recent years. Two days after finalizing the Vivendi deal, GE announced the purchase of British medical group Amersham for $9.5 billion -- a major boon for GE's high-tech, high-growth medical division -- according to Reuters.

But all has not been bright at General Electric. The company's stock price dropped 39 percent over the course of 2002, to trade at 1997 levels, while revenues grew by 5 percent, to $132 billion.

CARLOS GHOSN

Nissan's CEO, the multicultural Ghosn -- born in Brazil, educated in Lebanon and Japan, now a French citizen who lives mainly in Japan -- has diversified his resume since 2001.

The former head of Michelin North America, Ghosn became vice president of Renault in 1996, then CEO of Nissan in 2001, two years after Renault acquired a 36.8 percent stake in the Japanese automaker.

At Nissan, Ghosn's biggest victory came when he pushed through a billion-dollar deal to produce cars for the Chinese market in 2002.

His track record led Renault to name him its chief executive officer, beginning in 2005. But Ghosn isn't giving up his day job: He'll retain his role as Nissan's CEO even after the switch.

JEAN-MARIE MESSIER

The rise of Vivendi Universal from a French water utility to one of the world's largest and most dynamic firms seemed almost too good to be true when its chief executive, Jean-Marie Messier, was named a Global Influential in 2001. The harsh reality has set in during the past years.

In the 1990s, Messier captained an intense spending spree that made Paris, France-based Vivendi a multinational force. By 2001, the company included, among its subsidiaries, Universal Studios, European television network Canal Plus, Universal Music (billed as the world's biggest music company), and telecommunications interests in France and Morocco.

But with the rapid buildup came immense debt and, ultimately, Messier's downfall.

Its stock price cut in half, saddled with 19 billion euros in debt and posting a loss of more than $12 billion -- the largest single loss in French corporate history -- Vivendi ousted Messier in July 2002. But he did not leave empty-handed. Reuters reported that Messier got a 10 percent pay hike, to $6 million, from Vivendi for his work in 2002.