Abstract. Let X be a Kobayashi hyperbolic complex manifold, and assume that X does not contain compact complex submanifolds of positive dimension (e.g., X Stein). We shall prove the following generalization of Ritt’s theorem: every holomorphic self-map f :X → X such that f(X) is relatively compact in X has a unique fixed point τ(f) ∈ X , which is attracting. Furthermore, we shall prove that τ(f...