Gates was selected top executive by 34 percent of the respondents--garnering almost four times the support of the second choice, Henry Ford, who received 9 percent. Yet, 85 percent of the respondents said the company Ford founded, Ford Motor, was likely to still be around by the end of the next century, compared with only 79 percent who said Microsoft would survive.

About 4 percent of those polled chose American presidents as important business leaders, while John D. Rockefeller, Donald Trump and Lee Iacocca received 2 percent each, and Malcolm Forbes, Ross Perot and Alan Greenspan each got 1 percent of the votes.

Ninety-four percent of Americans said Coca-Cola will last through the 21st century, while 78 percent said General Electric will be around in 2099. Only 41 percent of Americans said Amazon.com will make it through the next century.

Meanwhile, 20 percent of Americans said the economy is in "very good" shape, and 56 percent said it is "fairly good,'' according to the poll. Twenty-six percent said the economy is improving, while 56 percent said it would remain the same.

The poll was conducted Dec. 17-19 among 1,026 adults nationwide. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.