(FORTUNE Magazine) – Since taking over P&G in 2000, this 56-year-old former Navy man and company lifer has quietly skippered the $43 billion colossus back to profitability. But you won't hear him constantly bragging about it. Lafley's unassuming mien, openness, and authenticity have endeared him to Wall Street and employees alike. "Despite his doing nothing to create it," says CEO guru Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, "a sudden mythology has grown up around him that's almost Jack Welch-like." That might explain why he sits on the boards of two of the five largest companies in the country (General Motors and GE). His real power is in his reach. Five billion people across 130 countries use the nearly 300 brands he controls, including Tide, Pampers, and Crest, two billion times a day. This year Lafley is ramming home the $7 billion acquisition of German hair-care giant Wella, the largest in company history. --Matthew Boyle