San Jose Mercury News, Calif., Wiretap Column.

Byline: Peter Delevett

Oct. 12--How hot is Rudy Giuliani these days? New York's mayor is the headliner at an upcoming conference of leading corporate chiefs, getting top billing over AOL's Steve Case and General Electric's Jeff Immelt, among others.

Michael Dell may carry clout on Wall Street, but the Big Apple's boss has become something of a national demigod in the past month. Hence, Dell, Case and the chief executives of Enron, Nokia and Continental Airlines can all take a back seat, as far as the organizers of "Leadership in Turbulent Times" are concerned.

"CEOs have a lot they can learn from the mayor," says conference Chairman Gary Hamel.

That's not the only quirky thing about the conference, which is …