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Lars Rebien
Sørensen
COMPANY
Novo Nordisk
INDUSTRY
Health care
HQCOUNTRY
Denmark
START
YEAR
2000
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
6 15
The Ranking
John Chambers*
COMPANY
Cisco Systems
INDUSTRY
Information technology
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1995
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
7 69
Pablo Isla
COMPANY
Inditex
INDUSTRY
Retail
HQCOUNTRY
Spain
START
YEAR
2005
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
20 49
Elmar Degenhart
COMPANY
Continental
INDUSTRY
Automobile
HQCOUNTRY
Germany
START
YEAR
2009
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
27 120
Martin Sorrell
COMPANY
WPP
INDUSTRY
Consumer services
HQCOUNTRY
United Kingdom
START
YEAR
1986
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
15 187
Leslie Wexner
COMPANY
L Brands
INDUSTRY
Retail
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1963
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
14 275
Howard Schultz
COMPANY
Starbucks
INDUSTRY
Consumer goods
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2008
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
37 207
Mark Parker
COMPANY
Nike
INDUSTRY
Consumer goods
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2006
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
46 265
Martin Gilbert
COMPANY
Aberdeen Asset Management
INDUSTRY
Financial services
HQCOUNTRY
United Kingdom
START
YEAR
1983
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
79 146
Johan Thijs
COMPANY
KBC
INDUSTRY
Financial services
HQCOUNTRY
Belgium
START
YEAR
2012
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
84 134
Roberto
Egydio Setubal
COMPANY
Itaú Unibanco
INDUSTRY
Financial services
HQCOUNTRY
Brazil
START
YEAR
1994
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
4 460
Florentino
Pérez Rodríguez
COMPANY
ACS
INDUSTRY
Industrials
HQCOUNTRY
Spain
START
YEAR
1993
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
21 280
Jacques
Aschenbroich
COMPANY
Valeo
INDUSTRY
Automobile
HQCOUNTRY
France
START
YEAR
2009
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
78 62
Laurence
Douglas Fink
COMPANY
BlackRock
INDUSTRY
Financial services
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1988
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
5 483
Benoît Potier
COMPANY
Air Liquide
INDUSTRY
Materials
HQCOUNTRY
France
START
YEAR
1997
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
64 123
*STEPPED DOWN JULY 2015
52 Harvard Business Review November 2015
THE BIG IDEA THE BEST-PERFORMING CEOS IN THE WORLD
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6 7 9 108
20
OVERALLRANK
16
OVERALLRANK
18
OVERALLRANK
19
OVERALLRANK
17
3026 27 28 29
Carlos Brito
COMPANY
Anheuser-Busch InBev
INDUSTRY
Consumer goods
HQCOUNTRY
Belgium
START
YEAR
2005
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
38 228
Lars Rasmussen
COMPANY
Coloplast
INDUSTRY
Health care
HQCOUNTRY
Denmark
START
YEAR
2008
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
81 57
Kasper Rorsted
COMPANY
Henkel
INDUSTRY
Consumer goods
HQCOUNTRY
Germany
START
YEAR
2008
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
101 18
Alexander Cutler
COMPANY
Eaton
INDUSTRY
Industrials
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2000
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
52 226
Martin Winterkorn*
COMPANY
Volkswagen
INDUSTRY
Automobile
HQCOUNTRY
Germany
START
YEAR
2007
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
99 46
Stephen Luczo
COMPANY
Seagate Technology
INDUSTRY
Information technology
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2009
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
41 99
Jon Fredrik Baksaas
COMPANY
Telenor
INDUSTRY
Telecommunication
HQCOUNTRY
Norway
START
YEAR
2002
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
34 147
George Scangos
COMPANY
Biogen
INDUSTRY
Health care
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2010
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
36 143
Michael Wolf
COMPANY
Swedbank
INDUSTRY
Financial services
HQCOUNTRY
Sweden
START
YEAR
2009
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
26 195
Fujio Mitarai
COMPANY
Canon
INDUSTRY
Information technology
HQCOUNTRY
Japan
START
YEAR
1995
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
45 140
Norbert Reithofer
COMPANY
BMW
INDUSTRY
Automobile
HQCOUNTRY
Germany
START
YEAR
2006
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
123 30
Martin Bouygues
COMPANY
Bouygues
INDUSTRY
Industrials
HQCOUNTRY
France
START
YEAR
1989
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
62 255
Sergio Marchionne
COMPANY
Fiat Chrysler
INDUSTRY
Automobile
HQCOUNTRY
Italy
START
YEAR
2004
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
104 88
Simon Wolfson
COMPANY
Next
INDUSTRY
Retail
HQCOUNTRY
United Kingdom
START
YEAR
2001
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
50 308
Jen-Hsun Huang
COMPANY
Nvidia
INDUSTRY
Information technology
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1993
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
76 216
*STEPPED DOWN SEPTEMBER 2015 AMID VW’S EMISSIONS-CHEATINGSCANDAL
HBR.ORG
November 2015 Harvard Business Review 53
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3231
3938
45 46 47 48 49
This year, for the first time, our ranking includes CEOs who started in their
jobs before 1995. Because industry-adjusted company returns weren’t
available for years prior to 1995, we omitted those CEOs in the past. This year
we’ve calculated their performance as if they took office on January 1, 1995.
While that may be imprecise and probably understates the results of
very-long-serving CEOs (many of whom put up spectacular numbers early
in their tenures), we believe it’s fairer than excluding them altogether.
In an effort to understand how much this methodology penalizes long-term
CEOs—and get a sense of how all the leaders we evaluated would do on
a straight-up, unfiltered ranking—we’ve calculated each CEO’s total
shareholder return (including dividends reinvested) with no adjustments,
from his or her start date until April 30, 2015. Sure enough, seven of the top
10 are CEOs who started before 1995. (See below.) When you think about it,
that makes sense: To earn the right to be CEO for more than 20 years, your
performance should be top-notch.
Ronnie Leten
COMPANY
Atlas Copco
INDUSTRY
Industrials
HQCOUNTRY
Sweden
START
YEAR
2009
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
126 19
Michael Ward
COMPANY
CSX
INDUSTRY
Transportation
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2003
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
40 366
Maurice Lévy
COMPANY
Publicis
INDUSTRY
Consumer services
HQCOUNTRY
France
START
YEAR
1987
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
36 433
Huateng “Pony” Ma
COMPANY
Tencent
INDUSTRY
Information technology
HQCOUNTRY
Hong Kong
START
YEAR
1998
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
2 630
Blake
Nordstrom
COMPANY
Nordstrom
INDUSTRY
Retail
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2000
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
61 328
Marc Benioff
COMPANY
Salesforce.com
INDUSTRY
Information technology
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2001
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
13 593
Debra Cafaro
COMPANY
Ventas
INDUSTRY
Financial services
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1999
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
31 522
Lars Renström
COMPANY
Alfa Laval
INDUSTRY
Industrials
HQCOUNTRY
Sweden
START
YEAR
2004
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
140 87
Mark Bristow
COMPANY
Randgold Resources
INDUSTRY
Materials
HQCOUNTRY
United Kingdom
START
YEAR
1995
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
146 67
TSR
RANK
CEO
COMPANY
OVERALL
RANK
START
YEAR
TSROVER
TENURE
1 LESLIEWEXNER
L BRANDS
11 1963 549,253%
2 WARRENBUFFETT
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
101 1970 318,407
3 RODNEYSACKS
MONSTER BEVERAGE
131 1990 89,645
4 MARTINSORRELL
WPP
5 1986 65,565
5 TAI-MING“TERRY”GOU
HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY
33 1974 25,914
6 JEFFREYBEZOS
AMAZON
87 1996 21,438
7 GREGORYGOODMAN
GOODMAN
113 1995 21,204
8 NEALPATTERSON
CERNER
79 1980 20,213
9 HUATENG“PONY”MA
TENCENT
45 1998 20,166
10 W.GALENWESTON
GEORGE WESTON
89 1978 19,296
Who Had the Best Unadjusted
Financial Performance?
54 Harvard Business Review November 2015
THE BIG IDEA THE BEST-PERFORMING CEOS IN THE WORLD
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33 34 35 36 37
42 43 4440 41
50 51 52
Tai-Ming “Terry”
Gou
COMPANY
Hon Hai Precision Industry
INDUSTRY
Information technology
HQCOUNTRY
Taiwan
START
YEAR
1974
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
8 499
Eric Wiseman
COMPANY
VF
INDUSTRY
Consumer goods
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2008
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
69 268
Tadashi Yanai
COMPANY
Fast Retailing
INDUSTRY
Retail
HQCOUNTRY
Japan
START
YEAR
1984
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
9 509
James Taiclet Jr.
COMPANY
American Tower
INDUSTRY
Financial services
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2003
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
28 435
Douglas
Berthiaume*
COMPANY
Waters
INDUSTRY
Health care
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1994
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
64 313
Carlos Ghosn
COMPANY
Renault
INDUSTRY
Automobile
HQCOUNTRY
France
START
YEAR
2009
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
119 104
Herbert Hainer
COMPANY
Adidas
INDUSTRY
Consumer goods
HQCOUNTRY
Germany
START
YEAR
2001
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
127 86
John Martin
COMPANY
Gilead Sciences
INDUSTRY
Health care
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1996
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
3 600
John Mackey
COMPANY
Whole Foods
INDUSTRY
Retail
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1980
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
44 447
Bernard Arnault**
COMPANY
Christian Dior
INDUSTRY
Consumer goods
HQCOUNTRY
France
START
YEAR
1985
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
12 576
Íñigo Meirás
COMPANY
Ferrovial
INDUSTRY
Industrials
HQCOUNTRY
Spain
START
YEAR
2009
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
158 35
Renato Alves Vale
COMPANY
CCR
INDUSTRY
Transportation
HQCOUNTRY
Brazil
START
YEAR
1999
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
65 407
The 100 CEOs
represent
23 nationalities
and companies
located in
19 countries
Johan Molin
COMPANY
Assa Abloy
INDUSTRY
Industrials
HQCOUNTRY
Sweden
START
YEAR
2005
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
96 292
*STEPPED DOWN SEPTEMBER 2015
**ALSO CEO OF LVMH, IN WHICH DIOR HOLDS A MAJOR STAKE
HBR.ORG
November 2015 Harvard Business Review 55
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54 55 56 5753
66 6763 64 65
7473 75
head a firm based
outside their
native country
Glenn Chamandy
COMPANY
Gildan Activewear
INDUSTRY
Consumer goods
HQCOUNTRY
Canada
START
YEAR
2004
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
155 158
Flemming Ornskov
COMPANY
Shire
INDUSTRY
Health care
HQCOUNTRY
United Kingdom
START
YEAR
2013
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
114 330
Frederick Smith
COMPANY
FedEx
INDUSTRY
Transportation
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1971
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
35 662
15%
Christopher Connor
COMPANY
Sherwin-Williams
INDUSTRY
Materials
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1999
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
19 610
Jean-Paul Agon
COMPANY
L’Oréal
INDUSTRY
Consumer goods
HQCOUNTRY
France
START
YEAR
2006
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
165 29
Terry Lundgren
COMPANY
Macy’s
INDUSTRY
Retail
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2003
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
74 402
Lamberto
Andreotti*
COMPANY
Bristol-Myers Squibb
INDUSTRY
Health care
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2010
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
133 168
Fabrizio Freda
COMPANY
Estée Lauder
INDUSTRY
Consumer goods
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2009
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
80 360
John Hammergren
COMPANY
McKesson
INDUSTRY
Health care
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1999
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
41 574
George Paz
COMPANY
Express Scripts
INDUSTRY
Health care
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2005
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
25 642
Richard Cousins
COMPANY
Compass
INDUSTRY
Consumer goods
HQCOUNTRY
United Kingdom
START
YEAR
2006
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
60 507
Hugh Grant
COMPANY
Monsanto
INDUSTRY
Materials
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2003
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
14 693
Michel Landel
COMPANY
Sodexo
INDUSTRY
Consumer goods
HQCOUNTRY
France
START
YEAR
2005
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
169 73
*STEPPED DOWN AUGUST 2015
56 Harvard Business Review November 2015
THE BIG IDEA THE BEST-PERFORMING CEOS IN THE WORLD
1315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 561315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 56 9/25/15 12:05 PM9/25/15 12:05 PM
76 77 78
68 69 7170 72
58 6059 61 62
were promoted to
CEO from within
their companies
86%Ajaypal Banga
COMPANY
MasterCard
INDUSTRY
Information technology
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2010
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
54 589
Wing Kin
“Alfred” Chan
COMPANY
Hong Kong and China Gas
INDUSTRY
Utilities
HQCOUNTRY
Hong Kong
START
YEAR
1997
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
108 374
Masayoshi Son
COMPANY
SoftBank
INDUSTRY
Telecommunication
HQCOUNTRY
Japan
START
YEAR
1981
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
14 762
Peter Botten
COMPANY
Oil Search
INDUSTRY
Energy
HQCOUNTRY
Australia
START
YEAR
1994
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
154 159
Tidjane Thiam**
COMPANY
Prudential
INDUSTRY
Financial services
HQCOUNTRY
United Kingdom
START
YEAR
2009
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
100 352
Daniel Amos
COMPANY
Aflac
INDUSTRY
Financial services
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1990
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
22 668
Richard Fairbank
COMPANY
Capital One
INDUSTRY
Financial services
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1994
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
17 692
Jef Colruyt
COMPANY
Colruyt
INDUSTRY
Retail
HQCOUNTRY
Belgium
START
YEAR
1994
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
97 384
Robert Iger
COMPANY
Walt Disney
INDUSTRY
Consumer services
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2005
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
41 563
Gilles Schnepp
COMPANY
Legrand
INDUSTRY
Industrials
HQCOUNTRY
France
START
YEAR
2004
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
166 45
David Thodey*
COMPANY
Telstra
INDUSTRY
Telecommunication
HQCOUNTRY
Australia
START
YEAR
2009
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
116 263
Paolo Rocca
COMPANY
Tenaris
INDUSTRY
Energy
HQCOUNTRY
Argentina
START
YEAR
2002
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
56 504
Olivier Piou
COMPANY
Gemalto
INDUSTRY
Information technology
HQCOUNTRY
Netherlands
START
YEAR
2004
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
156 79
*STEPPED DOWN MAY 2015
**STEPPED DOWN JUNE 2015
HBR.ORG
November 2015 Harvard Business Review 57
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90 9189
79 8180 82
8887
83
*TIE
95 96 97
W. Galen Weston
COMPANY
George Weston
INDUSTRY
Retail
HQCOUNTRY
Canada
START
YEAR
1978
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
102 430
Mark Bertolini
COMPANY
Aetna
INDUSTRY
Health care
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2010
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
110 401
Larry Merlo
COMPANY
CVS Health
INDUSTRY
Retail
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2011
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
80 533
Charles Bunch*
COMPANY
PPG Industries
INDUSTRY
Materials
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2005
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
131 340
Philip Pascall
COMPANY
First Quantum
INDUSTRY
Materials
HQCOUNTRY
Canada
START
YEAR
1996
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
86 534
Richard Anderson
COMPANY
Delta Air Lines
INDUSTRY
Transportation
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2007
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
120 398
Neal Patterson
COMPANY
Cerner
INDUSTRY
Health care
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1980
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
32 691
Shigenobu
Nagamori
COMPANY
Nidec
INDUSTRY
Industrials
HQCOUNTRY
Japan
START
YEAR
1973
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
26 718
Carol Meyrowitz
COMPANY
TJX
INDUSTRY
Retail
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2007
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
59 588
Wes Bush
COMPANY
Northrop Grumman
INDUSTRY
Industrials
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2010
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
145 244
On average,
they became CEO
at age 45 and
have been in office
16 years
Michael Dobson
COMPANY
Schroders
INDUSTRY
Financial services
HQCOUNTRY
United Kingdom
START
YEAR
2001
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
103 423
Jeffrey Bezos
COMPANY
Amazon
INDUSTRY
Retail
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1996
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
1 828
André Desmarais
COMPANY
Power Corporation of Canada
INDUSTRY
Financial services
HQCOUNTRY
Canada
START
YEAR
1996
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
93 445
*STEPPED DOWN SEPTEMBER 2015
58 Harvard Business Review November 2015
THE BIG IDEA THE BEST-PERFORMING CEOS IN THE WORLD
1315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 581315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 58 9/25/15 12:06 PM9/25/15 12:06 PM
9392 94
83 85 86
*TIE
98 99 100
Steve Ells
COMPANY
Chipotle Mexican Grill
INDUSTRY
Consumer goods
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1993
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
51 652
Thomas Ebeling
COMPANY
ProSiebenSat.1
INDUSTRY
Consumer services
HQCOUNTRY
Germany
START
YEAR
2009
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
48 665
Ulf Schneider
COMPANY
Fresenius
INDUSTRY
Health care
HQCOUNTRY
Germany
START
YEAR
2003
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
24 764
Warren Buffett is routinely lauded for
producing astronomical returns during
his 45 years as the CEO of Berkshire
Hathaway. So why doesn’t he appear
in our ranking? In fact, Buffett barely
missed the cutoff—coming in at #101,
one spot short. Had the list been based
solely on total shareholder return,
Buffett would have placed almost
at the top. But two factors in HBR’s
methodology pushed his ranking down.
The first is the way
we calculate financial
performance for CEOs
who’ve been in the job
for more than 20 years.
We incorporate three
financial metrics; one is
industry-adjusted returns,
which we use to avoid
unduly rewarding CEOs
who happened to be in
hot industries during
their tenure. Industry-
adjusted returns are
unavailable prior to
1995, so we compute
the financial returns of
CEOs who took office
earlier as if they began
on January 1, 1995. (Until
this year, CEOs who began before
then were ineligible for the list.) Counting
Berkshire’s returns only since 1995 ignores the
value that Buffett created during his first 25 years
at the company—but despite that, he still had
the 23rd best overall financial performance of the
907 CEOs we assessed.
The second factor is Berkshire’s environmental,
social, and governance (ESG) performance. On this
metric, Buffett ranked #798 out of the 907 CEOs
we looked at. Sustainalytics, the research firm
that produces the ESG scores, says that low
rank is partly due to Berkshire’s poor disclosure
on its governance and social policies. Another
consideration was how Berkshire incorporates ESG
issues into its selection of investments. Relative
to peer holding companies, Berkshire’s initiatives
for addressing sustainability within its investees
are weak, Sustainalytics found. Although the ESG
ranking counts for only 20% of a CEO’s overall
ranking, Buffett’s very low placement in it was
enough to pull him out of the top 100.
101
Warren Buffett
COMPANY
Berkshire Hathaway
INDUSTRY
Financial services
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1970
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESGRANKING RANKING
23 798
Paul Desmarais Jr.
COMPANY
Power Corporation of Canada
INDUSTRY
Financial services
HQCOUNTRY
Canada
START
YEAR
1996
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
93 445
Leonard Schleifer
COMPANY
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
INDUSTRY
Health care
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
1988
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
8 794
Dieter Zetsche
COMPANY
Daimler
INDUSTRY
Automobile
HQCOUNTRY
Germany
START
YEAR
2006
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
181 105
Douglas Baker Jr.
COMPANY
Ecolab
INDUSTRY
Materials
HQCOUNTRY
United States
START
YEAR
2004
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
132 350
Wolfgang Eder
COMPANY
Voestalpine
INDUSTRY
Materials
HQCOUNTRY
Austria
START
YEAR
2004
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
144 306
Vittorio Colao
COMPANY
Vodafone
INDUSTRY
Telecommunication
HQCOUNTRY
United Kingdom
START
YEAR
2008
FOUNDER INSIDER
CHAIRMAN MBA
FINANCIAL ESG
RANKING RANKING
208 51
HBR.ORG
November 2015 Harvard Business Review 59
Where’s Warren?
1315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 591315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 59 9/25/15 12:06 PM9/25/15 12:06 PM

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Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List

  • 1. 1 22 3 54 11 12 13 14 15 21 22 23 24 25 Lars Rebien Sørensen COMPANY Novo Nordisk INDUSTRY Health care HQCOUNTRY Denmark START YEAR 2000 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 6 15 The Ranking John Chambers* COMPANY Cisco Systems INDUSTRY Information technology HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1995 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 7 69 Pablo Isla COMPANY Inditex INDUSTRY Retail HQCOUNTRY Spain START YEAR 2005 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 20 49 Elmar Degenhart COMPANY Continental INDUSTRY Automobile HQCOUNTRY Germany START YEAR 2009 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 27 120 Martin Sorrell COMPANY WPP INDUSTRY Consumer services HQCOUNTRY United Kingdom START YEAR 1986 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 15 187 Leslie Wexner COMPANY L Brands INDUSTRY Retail HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1963 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 14 275 Howard Schultz COMPANY Starbucks INDUSTRY Consumer goods HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2008 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 37 207 Mark Parker COMPANY Nike INDUSTRY Consumer goods HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2006 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 46 265 Martin Gilbert COMPANY Aberdeen Asset Management INDUSTRY Financial services HQCOUNTRY United Kingdom START YEAR 1983 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 79 146 Johan Thijs COMPANY KBC INDUSTRY Financial services HQCOUNTRY Belgium START YEAR 2012 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 84 134 Roberto Egydio Setubal COMPANY Itaú Unibanco INDUSTRY Financial services HQCOUNTRY Brazil START YEAR 1994 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 4 460 Florentino Pérez Rodríguez COMPANY ACS INDUSTRY Industrials HQCOUNTRY Spain START YEAR 1993 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 21 280 Jacques Aschenbroich COMPANY Valeo INDUSTRY Automobile HQCOUNTRY France START YEAR 2009 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 78 62 Laurence Douglas Fink COMPANY BlackRock INDUSTRY Financial services HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1988 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 5 483 Benoît Potier COMPANY Air Liquide INDUSTRY Materials HQCOUNTRY France START YEAR 1997 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 64 123 *STEPPED DOWN JULY 2015 52 Harvard Business Review November 2015 THE BIG IDEA THE BEST-PERFORMING CEOS IN THE WORLD 1315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 521315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 52 9/25/15 12:05 PM9/25/15 12:05 PM
  • 2. 6 7 9 108 20 OVERALLRANK 16 OVERALLRANK 18 OVERALLRANK 19 OVERALLRANK 17 3026 27 28 29 Carlos Brito COMPANY Anheuser-Busch InBev INDUSTRY Consumer goods HQCOUNTRY Belgium START YEAR 2005 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 38 228 Lars Rasmussen COMPANY Coloplast INDUSTRY Health care HQCOUNTRY Denmark START YEAR 2008 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 81 57 Kasper Rorsted COMPANY Henkel INDUSTRY Consumer goods HQCOUNTRY Germany START YEAR 2008 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 101 18 Alexander Cutler COMPANY Eaton INDUSTRY Industrials HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2000 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 52 226 Martin Winterkorn* COMPANY Volkswagen INDUSTRY Automobile HQCOUNTRY Germany START YEAR 2007 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 99 46 Stephen Luczo COMPANY Seagate Technology INDUSTRY Information technology HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2009 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 41 99 Jon Fredrik Baksaas COMPANY Telenor INDUSTRY Telecommunication HQCOUNTRY Norway START YEAR 2002 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 34 147 George Scangos COMPANY Biogen INDUSTRY Health care HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2010 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 36 143 Michael Wolf COMPANY Swedbank INDUSTRY Financial services HQCOUNTRY Sweden START YEAR 2009 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 26 195 Fujio Mitarai COMPANY Canon INDUSTRY Information technology HQCOUNTRY Japan START YEAR 1995 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 45 140 Norbert Reithofer COMPANY BMW INDUSTRY Automobile HQCOUNTRY Germany START YEAR 2006 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 123 30 Martin Bouygues COMPANY Bouygues INDUSTRY Industrials HQCOUNTRY France START YEAR 1989 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 62 255 Sergio Marchionne COMPANY Fiat Chrysler INDUSTRY Automobile HQCOUNTRY Italy START YEAR 2004 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 104 88 Simon Wolfson COMPANY Next INDUSTRY Retail HQCOUNTRY United Kingdom START YEAR 2001 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 50 308 Jen-Hsun Huang COMPANY Nvidia INDUSTRY Information technology HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1993 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 76 216 *STEPPED DOWN SEPTEMBER 2015 AMID VW’S EMISSIONS-CHEATINGSCANDAL HBR.ORG November 2015 Harvard Business Review 53 1315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 531315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 53 9/25/15 12:05 PM9/25/15 12:05 PM
  • 3. 3231 3938 45 46 47 48 49 This year, for the first time, our ranking includes CEOs who started in their jobs before 1995. Because industry-adjusted company returns weren’t available for years prior to 1995, we omitted those CEOs in the past. This year we’ve calculated their performance as if they took office on January 1, 1995. While that may be imprecise and probably understates the results of very-long-serving CEOs (many of whom put up spectacular numbers early in their tenures), we believe it’s fairer than excluding them altogether. In an effort to understand how much this methodology penalizes long-term CEOs—and get a sense of how all the leaders we evaluated would do on a straight-up, unfiltered ranking—we’ve calculated each CEO’s total shareholder return (including dividends reinvested) with no adjustments, from his or her start date until April 30, 2015. Sure enough, seven of the top 10 are CEOs who started before 1995. (See below.) When you think about it, that makes sense: To earn the right to be CEO for more than 20 years, your performance should be top-notch. Ronnie Leten COMPANY Atlas Copco INDUSTRY Industrials HQCOUNTRY Sweden START YEAR 2009 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 126 19 Michael Ward COMPANY CSX INDUSTRY Transportation HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2003 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 40 366 Maurice Lévy COMPANY Publicis INDUSTRY Consumer services HQCOUNTRY France START YEAR 1987 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 36 433 Huateng “Pony” Ma COMPANY Tencent INDUSTRY Information technology HQCOUNTRY Hong Kong START YEAR 1998 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 2 630 Blake Nordstrom COMPANY Nordstrom INDUSTRY Retail HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2000 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 61 328 Marc Benioff COMPANY Salesforce.com INDUSTRY Information technology HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2001 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 13 593 Debra Cafaro COMPANY Ventas INDUSTRY Financial services HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1999 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 31 522 Lars Renström COMPANY Alfa Laval INDUSTRY Industrials HQCOUNTRY Sweden START YEAR 2004 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 140 87 Mark Bristow COMPANY Randgold Resources INDUSTRY Materials HQCOUNTRY United Kingdom START YEAR 1995 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 146 67 TSR RANK CEO COMPANY OVERALL RANK START YEAR TSROVER TENURE 1 LESLIEWEXNER L BRANDS 11 1963 549,253% 2 WARRENBUFFETT BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY 101 1970 318,407 3 RODNEYSACKS MONSTER BEVERAGE 131 1990 89,645 4 MARTINSORRELL WPP 5 1986 65,565 5 TAI-MING“TERRY”GOU HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY 33 1974 25,914 6 JEFFREYBEZOS AMAZON 87 1996 21,438 7 GREGORYGOODMAN GOODMAN 113 1995 21,204 8 NEALPATTERSON CERNER 79 1980 20,213 9 HUATENG“PONY”MA TENCENT 45 1998 20,166 10 W.GALENWESTON GEORGE WESTON 89 1978 19,296 Who Had the Best Unadjusted Financial Performance? 54 Harvard Business Review November 2015 THE BIG IDEA THE BEST-PERFORMING CEOS IN THE WORLD 1315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 541315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 54 9/25/15 12:05 PM9/25/15 12:05 PM
  • 4. 33 34 35 36 37 42 43 4440 41 50 51 52 Tai-Ming “Terry” Gou COMPANY Hon Hai Precision Industry INDUSTRY Information technology HQCOUNTRY Taiwan START YEAR 1974 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 8 499 Eric Wiseman COMPANY VF INDUSTRY Consumer goods HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2008 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 69 268 Tadashi Yanai COMPANY Fast Retailing INDUSTRY Retail HQCOUNTRY Japan START YEAR 1984 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 9 509 James Taiclet Jr. COMPANY American Tower INDUSTRY Financial services HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2003 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 28 435 Douglas Berthiaume* COMPANY Waters INDUSTRY Health care HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1994 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 64 313 Carlos Ghosn COMPANY Renault INDUSTRY Automobile HQCOUNTRY France START YEAR 2009 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 119 104 Herbert Hainer COMPANY Adidas INDUSTRY Consumer goods HQCOUNTRY Germany START YEAR 2001 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 127 86 John Martin COMPANY Gilead Sciences INDUSTRY Health care HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1996 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 3 600 John Mackey COMPANY Whole Foods INDUSTRY Retail HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1980 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 44 447 Bernard Arnault** COMPANY Christian Dior INDUSTRY Consumer goods HQCOUNTRY France START YEAR 1985 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 12 576 Íñigo Meirás COMPANY Ferrovial INDUSTRY Industrials HQCOUNTRY Spain START YEAR 2009 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 158 35 Renato Alves Vale COMPANY CCR INDUSTRY Transportation HQCOUNTRY Brazil START YEAR 1999 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 65 407 The 100 CEOs represent 23 nationalities and companies located in 19 countries Johan Molin COMPANY Assa Abloy INDUSTRY Industrials HQCOUNTRY Sweden START YEAR 2005 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 96 292 *STEPPED DOWN SEPTEMBER 2015 **ALSO CEO OF LVMH, IN WHICH DIOR HOLDS A MAJOR STAKE HBR.ORG November 2015 Harvard Business Review 55 1315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 551315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 55 9/25/15 12:05 PM9/25/15 12:05 PM
  • 5. 54 55 56 5753 66 6763 64 65 7473 75 head a firm based outside their native country Glenn Chamandy COMPANY Gildan Activewear INDUSTRY Consumer goods HQCOUNTRY Canada START YEAR 2004 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 155 158 Flemming Ornskov COMPANY Shire INDUSTRY Health care HQCOUNTRY United Kingdom START YEAR 2013 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 114 330 Frederick Smith COMPANY FedEx INDUSTRY Transportation HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1971 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 35 662 15% Christopher Connor COMPANY Sherwin-Williams INDUSTRY Materials HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1999 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 19 610 Jean-Paul Agon COMPANY L’Oréal INDUSTRY Consumer goods HQCOUNTRY France START YEAR 2006 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 165 29 Terry Lundgren COMPANY Macy’s INDUSTRY Retail HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2003 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 74 402 Lamberto Andreotti* COMPANY Bristol-Myers Squibb INDUSTRY Health care HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2010 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 133 168 Fabrizio Freda COMPANY Estée Lauder INDUSTRY Consumer goods HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2009 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 80 360 John Hammergren COMPANY McKesson INDUSTRY Health care HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1999 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 41 574 George Paz COMPANY Express Scripts INDUSTRY Health care HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2005 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 25 642 Richard Cousins COMPANY Compass INDUSTRY Consumer goods HQCOUNTRY United Kingdom START YEAR 2006 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 60 507 Hugh Grant COMPANY Monsanto INDUSTRY Materials HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2003 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 14 693 Michel Landel COMPANY Sodexo INDUSTRY Consumer goods HQCOUNTRY France START YEAR 2005 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 169 73 *STEPPED DOWN AUGUST 2015 56 Harvard Business Review November 2015 THE BIG IDEA THE BEST-PERFORMING CEOS IN THE WORLD 1315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 561315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 56 9/25/15 12:05 PM9/25/15 12:05 PM
  • 6. 76 77 78 68 69 7170 72 58 6059 61 62 were promoted to CEO from within their companies 86%Ajaypal Banga COMPANY MasterCard INDUSTRY Information technology HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2010 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 54 589 Wing Kin “Alfred” Chan COMPANY Hong Kong and China Gas INDUSTRY Utilities HQCOUNTRY Hong Kong START YEAR 1997 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 108 374 Masayoshi Son COMPANY SoftBank INDUSTRY Telecommunication HQCOUNTRY Japan START YEAR 1981 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 14 762 Peter Botten COMPANY Oil Search INDUSTRY Energy HQCOUNTRY Australia START YEAR 1994 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 154 159 Tidjane Thiam** COMPANY Prudential INDUSTRY Financial services HQCOUNTRY United Kingdom START YEAR 2009 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 100 352 Daniel Amos COMPANY Aflac INDUSTRY Financial services HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1990 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 22 668 Richard Fairbank COMPANY Capital One INDUSTRY Financial services HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1994 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 17 692 Jef Colruyt COMPANY Colruyt INDUSTRY Retail HQCOUNTRY Belgium START YEAR 1994 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 97 384 Robert Iger COMPANY Walt Disney INDUSTRY Consumer services HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2005 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 41 563 Gilles Schnepp COMPANY Legrand INDUSTRY Industrials HQCOUNTRY France START YEAR 2004 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 166 45 David Thodey* COMPANY Telstra INDUSTRY Telecommunication HQCOUNTRY Australia START YEAR 2009 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 116 263 Paolo Rocca COMPANY Tenaris INDUSTRY Energy HQCOUNTRY Argentina START YEAR 2002 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 56 504 Olivier Piou COMPANY Gemalto INDUSTRY Information technology HQCOUNTRY Netherlands START YEAR 2004 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 156 79 *STEPPED DOWN MAY 2015 **STEPPED DOWN JUNE 2015 HBR.ORG November 2015 Harvard Business Review 57 1315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 571315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 57 9/25/15 12:06 PM9/25/15 12:06 PM
  • 7. 90 9189 79 8180 82 8887 83 *TIE 95 96 97 W. Galen Weston COMPANY George Weston INDUSTRY Retail HQCOUNTRY Canada START YEAR 1978 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 102 430 Mark Bertolini COMPANY Aetna INDUSTRY Health care HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2010 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 110 401 Larry Merlo COMPANY CVS Health INDUSTRY Retail HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2011 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 80 533 Charles Bunch* COMPANY PPG Industries INDUSTRY Materials HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2005 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 131 340 Philip Pascall COMPANY First Quantum INDUSTRY Materials HQCOUNTRY Canada START YEAR 1996 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 86 534 Richard Anderson COMPANY Delta Air Lines INDUSTRY Transportation HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2007 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 120 398 Neal Patterson COMPANY Cerner INDUSTRY Health care HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1980 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 32 691 Shigenobu Nagamori COMPANY Nidec INDUSTRY Industrials HQCOUNTRY Japan START YEAR 1973 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 26 718 Carol Meyrowitz COMPANY TJX INDUSTRY Retail HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2007 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 59 588 Wes Bush COMPANY Northrop Grumman INDUSTRY Industrials HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2010 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 145 244 On average, they became CEO at age 45 and have been in office 16 years Michael Dobson COMPANY Schroders INDUSTRY Financial services HQCOUNTRY United Kingdom START YEAR 2001 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 103 423 Jeffrey Bezos COMPANY Amazon INDUSTRY Retail HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1996 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 1 828 André Desmarais COMPANY Power Corporation of Canada INDUSTRY Financial services HQCOUNTRY Canada START YEAR 1996 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 93 445 *STEPPED DOWN SEPTEMBER 2015 58 Harvard Business Review November 2015 THE BIG IDEA THE BEST-PERFORMING CEOS IN THE WORLD 1315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 581315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 58 9/25/15 12:06 PM9/25/15 12:06 PM
  • 8. 9392 94 83 85 86 *TIE 98 99 100 Steve Ells COMPANY Chipotle Mexican Grill INDUSTRY Consumer goods HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1993 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 51 652 Thomas Ebeling COMPANY ProSiebenSat.1 INDUSTRY Consumer services HQCOUNTRY Germany START YEAR 2009 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 48 665 Ulf Schneider COMPANY Fresenius INDUSTRY Health care HQCOUNTRY Germany START YEAR 2003 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 24 764 Warren Buffett is routinely lauded for producing astronomical returns during his 45 years as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. So why doesn’t he appear in our ranking? In fact, Buffett barely missed the cutoff—coming in at #101, one spot short. Had the list been based solely on total shareholder return, Buffett would have placed almost at the top. But two factors in HBR’s methodology pushed his ranking down. The first is the way we calculate financial performance for CEOs who’ve been in the job for more than 20 years. We incorporate three financial metrics; one is industry-adjusted returns, which we use to avoid unduly rewarding CEOs who happened to be in hot industries during their tenure. Industry- adjusted returns are unavailable prior to 1995, so we compute the financial returns of CEOs who took office earlier as if they began on January 1, 1995. (Until this year, CEOs who began before then were ineligible for the list.) Counting Berkshire’s returns only since 1995 ignores the value that Buffett created during his first 25 years at the company—but despite that, he still had the 23rd best overall financial performance of the 907 CEOs we assessed. The second factor is Berkshire’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. On this metric, Buffett ranked #798 out of the 907 CEOs we looked at. Sustainalytics, the research firm that produces the ESG scores, says that low rank is partly due to Berkshire’s poor disclosure on its governance and social policies. Another consideration was how Berkshire incorporates ESG issues into its selection of investments. Relative to peer holding companies, Berkshire’s initiatives for addressing sustainability within its investees are weak, Sustainalytics found. Although the ESG ranking counts for only 20% of a CEO’s overall ranking, Buffett’s very low placement in it was enough to pull him out of the top 100. 101 Warren Buffett COMPANY Berkshire Hathaway INDUSTRY Financial services HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1970 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESGRANKING RANKING 23 798 Paul Desmarais Jr. COMPANY Power Corporation of Canada INDUSTRY Financial services HQCOUNTRY Canada START YEAR 1996 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 93 445 Leonard Schleifer COMPANY Regeneron Pharmaceuticals INDUSTRY Health care HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 1988 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 8 794 Dieter Zetsche COMPANY Daimler INDUSTRY Automobile HQCOUNTRY Germany START YEAR 2006 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 181 105 Douglas Baker Jr. COMPANY Ecolab INDUSTRY Materials HQCOUNTRY United States START YEAR 2004 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 132 350 Wolfgang Eder COMPANY Voestalpine INDUSTRY Materials HQCOUNTRY Austria START YEAR 2004 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 144 306 Vittorio Colao COMPANY Vodafone INDUSTRY Telecommunication HQCOUNTRY United Kingdom START YEAR 2008 FOUNDER INSIDER CHAIRMAN MBA FINANCIAL ESG RANKING RANKING 208 51 HBR.ORG November 2015 Harvard Business Review 59 Where’s Warren? 1315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 591315 Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List.indd 59 9/25/15 12:06 PM9/25/15 12:06 PM