Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List

1 22 3 54

11 12 13 14 15

21 22 23 24 25

Lars Rebien SørensenCOMPANYNovo Nordisk

INDUSTRYHealth careHQ COUNTRY DenmarkSTART YEAR2000

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA

FINANCIAL ESGRANKING RANKING

�6 �15

The Ranking

John Chambers*

COMPANYCisco Systems

INDUSTRYInformation technologyHQ COUNTRY United States START YEAR1995

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


��7 ��69

Pablo Isla

COMPANYInditex

INDUSTRYRetailHQ COUNTRY SpainSTART YEAR2005

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


20 ��49

Elmar Degenhart

COMPANYContinental

INDUSTRYAutomobileHQ COUNTRY GermanySTART YEAR2009

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


27 120

Martin Sorrell

COMPANYWPP

INDUSTRYConsumer servicesHQ COUNTRY United KingdomSTART YEAR1986

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


15 �187

Leslie Wexner

COMPANYL Brands

INDUSTRYRetailHQ COUNTRY United StatesSTART YEAR1963

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


14 275

Howard Schultz

COMPANYStarbucks

INDUSTRYConsumer goodsHQ COUNTRY United StatesSTART YEAR2008

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


37 207

Mark Parker

COMPANYNike


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


46 ��265

Martin Gilbert

COMPANYAberdeen Asset Management

INDUSTRYFinancial servicesHQ COUNTRY United KingdomSTART YEAR1983

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


79 146

Johan Thijs

COMPANYKBC

INDUSTRYFinancial servicesHQ COUNTRY BelgiumSTART YEAR2012

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


84 ��134

Roberto Egydio SetubalCOMPANYItaú Unibanco

INDUSTRYFinancial servicesHQ COUNTRY BrazilSTART YEAR1994

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


4 460

Florentino Pérez RodríguezCOMPANYACS

INDUSTRYIndustrialsHQ COUNTRY SpainSTART YEAR1993

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


21 ��280

Jacques AschenbroichCOMPANYValeo

INDUSTRYAutomobileHQ COUNTRY FranceSTART YEAR2009

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


78 �62

Laurence Douglas FinkCOMPANYBlackRock

INDUSTRYFinancial servicesHQ COUNTRY United StatesSTART YEAR1988

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


5 483

Benoît Potier

COMPANYAir Liquide

INDUSTRYMaterialsHQ COUNTRY FranceSTART YEAR1997

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


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

6 7 9 108

20OVERALL RANK

16OVERALL RANK

18OVERALL RANK

19OVERALL RANK

17

3026 27 28 29

Carlos Brito

COMPANYAnheuser-Busch InBev

INDUSTRYConsumer goodsHQ COUNTRY BelgiumSTART YEAR2005

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


38 �228

Lars Rasmussen

COMPANYColoplast

INDUSTRYHealth careHQ COUNTRY DenmarkSTART YEAR2008

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


81 57

Kasper Rorsted

COMPANYHenkel

INDUSTRYConsumer goodsHQ COUNTRY GermanySTART YEAR2008

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


101 ��18

Alexander Cutler

COMPANYEaton

INDUSTRYIndustrialsHQ COUNTRY United StatesSTART YEAR2000

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


52 226

Martin Winterkorn*

COMPANYVolkswagen


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


99 ��46

Stephen Luczo

COMPANYSeagate Technology

INDUSTRYInformation technologyHQ COUNTRY United StatesSTART YEAR2009

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


41 99

Jon Fredrik Baksaas

COMPANYTelenor

INDUSTRYTelecommunicationHQ COUNTRY NorwaySTART YEAR2002

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


34 �� 147

George Scangos

COMPANYBiogen

INDUSTRYHealth careHQ COUNTRY United StatesSTART YEAR2010

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


36 ��143

Michael Wolf

COMPANYSwedbank

INDUSTRYFinancial servicesHQ COUNTRY SwedenSTART YEAR2009

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


26 ��195

Fujio Mitarai

COMPANYCanon

INDUSTRYInformation technologyHQ COUNTRY JapanSTART YEAR1995

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


45 ��140

Norbert Reithofer

COMPANYBMW


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


123 30

Martin Bouygues

COMPANYBouygues

INDUSTRYIndustrialsHQ COUNTRY FranceSTART YEAR1989

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


62 255

Sergio Marchionne

COMPANYFiat Chrysler

INDUSTRYAutomobileHQ COUNTRY ItalySTART YEAR2004

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


104 88

Simon Wolfson

COMPANYNext

INDUSTRYRetailHQ COUNTRY United KingdomSTART YEAR2001

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


50 308

Jen-Hsun Huang

COMPANYNvidia


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


76 216*STEPPED DOWN SEPTEMBER 2015 AMID VW’S EMISSIONS-CHEATINGSCANDAL

HBR.ORG

November 2015 Harvard Business Review 53


3231

3938

45 46 47 48 49

This year, for the fi rst 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 offi ce 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 eff ort 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, unfi ltered 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

COMPANYAtlas Copco

INDUSTRYIndustrialsHQ COUNTRY SwedenSTART YEAR2009

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


126 19

Michael Ward

COMPANYCSX

INDUSTRYTransportationHQ COUNTRY United StatesSTART YEAR2003

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


40 366

Maurice Lévy

COMPANYPublicis

INDUSTRYConsumer servicesHQ COUNTRY FranceSTART YEAR1987

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


36 433

Huateng “Pony” Ma

COMPANYTencent

INDUSTRYInformation technologyHQ COUNTRY Hong KongSTART YEAR1998

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


2 630

Blake NordstromCOMPANYNordstrom


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


61 ��328

Marc Benioff

COMPANYSalesforce.com


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


13 ��593

Debra Cafaro

COMPANYVentas


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


31 522

Lars Renström

COMPANYAlfa Laval


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


140 ��87

Mark Bristow

COMPANYRandgold Resources

INDUSTRYMaterialsHQ COUNTRY United KingdomSTART YEAR1995

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


146 �� 67

TSR RANK

CEOCOMPANY

OVERALL RANK

START YEAR

TSR OVER TENURE

1 LESLIE WEXNERL BRANDS

11 1963 549,253%

2 WARREN BUFFETTBERKSHIRE HATHAWAY

101 1970 318,407

3 RODNEY SACKSMONSTER BEVERAGE

131 1990 89,645

4 MARTIN SORRELLWPP

5 1986 65,565

5 TAI-MING “TERRY” GOU HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY

33 1974 25,914

6 JEFFREY BEZOSAMAZON

87 1996 21,438

7 GREGORY GOODMANGOODMAN

113 1995 21,204

8 NEAL PATTERSONCERNER

79 1980 20,213

9 HUATENG “PONY” MA TENCENT

45 1998 20,166

10 W. GALEN WESTON GEORGE WESTON

89 1978 19,296

Who Had the Best Unadjusted Financial Performance?




33 34 35 36 37

42 43 4440 41

50 51 52

Tai-Ming “Terry” Gou COMPANYHon Hai Precision Industry

INDUSTRYInformation technologyHQ COUNTRY TaiwanSTART YEAR1974

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


8 499

Eric Wiseman

COMPANYVF


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


69 ��268

Tadashi Yanai

COMPANYFast Retailing

INDUSTRYRetailHQ COUNTRY JapanSTART YEAR1984

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


9 509

James Taiclet Jr.

COMPANYAmerican Tower


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


28 435

Douglas Berthiaume*COMPANYWaters


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


64 313

Carlos Ghosn

COMPANYRenault

INDUSTRYAutomobileHQ COUNTRY FranceSTART YEAR2009

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


119 ��104

Herbert Hainer

COMPANYAdidas

INDUSTRYConsumer goodsHQ COUNTRY GermanySTART YEAR2001

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


127 ��86

John Martin

COMPANYGilead Sciences


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


3 600

John Mackey

COMPANYWhole Foods


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


44 ��447

Bernard Arnault**

COMPANYChristian Dior

INDUSTRYConsumer goodsHQ COUNTRY FranceSTART YEAR1985

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


12 576

Íñigo Meirás

COMPANYFerrovial

INDUSTRYIndustrialsHQ COUNTRY SpainSTART YEAR2009

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


158 35

Renato Alves Vale

COMPANYCCR

INDUSTRYTransportationHQ COUNTRY BrazilSTART YEAR1999

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


65 407

The 100 CEOs represent 23 nationalitiesand companies located in 19 countries

Johan Molin

COMPANYAssa Abloy


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


96 ��292*STEPPED DOWN SEPTEMBER 2015**ALSO CEO OF LVMH, IN WHICH DIOR HOLDS A MAJOR STAKE

HBR.ORG



54 55 56 5753

66 6763 64 65

7473 75

head a fi rm based outside their native country

Glenn Chamandy

COMPANYGildan Activewear

INDUSTRYConsumer goodsHQ COUNTRY CanadaSTART YEAR2004

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


155 158

Flemming Ornskov

COMPANYShire

INDUSTRYHealth careHQ COUNTRY United Kingdom START YEAR2013

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


114 ��330

Frederick Smith

COMPANYFedEx

INDUSTRYTransportationHQ COUNTRY United States START YEAR1971

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


35 662

15%

Christopher Connor

COMPANYSherwin-Williams

INDUSTRYMaterialsHQ COUNTRY United StatesSTART YEAR1999

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


19 610

Jean-Paul Agon

COMPANYL’Oréal


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


165 29

Terry Lundgren

COMPANYMacy’s


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


74 402

Lamberto Andreotti*COMPANYBristol-Myers Squibb


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


133 ��168

Fabrizio Freda

COMPANYEstée Lauder


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


80 ��360

John Hammergren

COMPANYMcKesson


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


41 574

George Paz

COMPANYExpress Scripts


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


25 642

Richard Cousins

COMPANYCompass

INDUSTRYConsumer goodsHQ COUNTRY United KingdomSTART YEAR2006

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


60 507

Hugh Grant

COMPANYMonsanto


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


14 693

Michel Landel

COMPANYSodexo


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


169 73

*STEPPED DOWN AUGUST 2015




76 77 78

68 69 7170 72

58 6059 61 62

were promoted to CEO from within their companies

86%Ajaypal Banga

COMPANYMasterCard

INDUSTRYInformation technologyHQ COUNTRY United States START YEAR2010

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


54 ��589

Wing Kin“Alfred” Chan

COMPANYHong Kong and China Gas

INDUSTRYUtilitiesHQ COUNTRY Hong KongSTART YEAR1997

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


108 ��374

Masayoshi Son

COMPANYSoftBank

INDUSTRYTelecommunicationHQ COUNTRY JapanSTART YEAR1981

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


14 762

Peter Botten

COMPANYOil Search

INDUSTRYEnergyHQ COUNTRY AustraliaSTART YEAR1994

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


154 159

Tidjane Thiam**

COMPANYPrudential


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


100 ��352

Daniel Amos

COMPANYAfl ac


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


22 ��668

Richard Fairbank

COMPANYCapital One


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


17 ��692

Jef Colruyt

COMPANYColruyt

INDUSTRYRetailHQ COUNTRY BelgiumSTART YEAR1994

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


97 ��384

Robert Iger

COMPANYWalt Disney

INDUSTRYConsumer servicesHQ COUNTRY United StatesSTART YEAR2005

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


41 563

Gilles Schnepp

COMPANYLegrand

INDUSTRYIndustrialsHQ COUNTRY FranceSTART YEAR2004

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


166 45

David Thodey*

COMPANYTelstra

INDUSTRYTelecommunicationHQ COUNTRY AustraliaSTART YEAR2009

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


116 ��263

Paolo Rocca

COMPANYTenaris

INDUSTRYEnergy HQ COUNTRY ArgentinaSTART YEAR2002

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


56 504

Olivier Piou

COMPANYGemalto

INDUSTRYInformation technologyHQ COUNTRY NetherlandsSTART YEAR2004

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


156 ��79

*STEPPED DOWN MAY 2015**STEPPED DOWN JUNE 2015

HBR.ORG



90 9189

79 8180 82

8887

83*TIE

95 96 97

W. Galen Weston

COMPANYGeorge Weston

INDUSTRYRetailHQ COUNTRY CanadaSTART YEAR1978

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


102 430

Mark Bertolini

COMPANYAetna


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


110 ��401

Larry Merlo

COMPANYCVS Health

INDUSTRYRetail HQ COUNTRY United StatesSTART YEAR2011

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


80 533

Charles Bunch*

COMPANYPPG Industries

INDUSTRYMaterials HQ COUNTRY United StatesSTART YEAR2005

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


131 ��340

Philip Pascall

COMPANYFirst Quantum

INDUSTRYMaterials HQ COUNTRY CanadaSTART YEAR1996

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


86 ��534

Richard Anderson

COMPANYDelta Air Lines

INDUSTRYTransportation HQ COUNTRY United StatesSTART YEAR2007

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


120 ��398

Neal Patterson

COMPANYCerner

INDUSTRYHealth careHQ COUNTRY United States START YEAR1980

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


32 691

Shigenobu NagamoriCOMPANYNidec

INDUSTRYIndustrials HQ COUNTRY JapanSTART YEAR1973

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


26 ��718

Carol Meyrowitz

COMPANYTJX


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


59 ��588

Wes Bush

COMPANYNorthrop Grumman

INDUSTRYIndustrialsHQ COUNTRY United StatesSTART YEAR2010

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


145 244

On average, they became CEO at age 45 and have been in offi ce 16 years

Michael Dobson

COMPANYSchroders


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


103 ��423

Jeff rey Bezos

COMPANYAmazon


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


1 828

André Desmarais

COMPANYPower Corporation of Canada

INDUSTRYFinancial servicesHQ COUNTRY CanadaSTART YEAR1996

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


93 �� 445

*STEPPED DOWN SEPTEMBER 2015




9392 94

83 85 86*TIE

98 99 100

Steve Ells

COMPANYChipotle Mexican Grill


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


51 652

Thomas Ebeling

COMPANYProSiebenSat.1

INDUSTRYConsumer servicesHQ COUNTRY GermanySTART YEAR2009

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


48 665

Ulf Schneider

COMPANYFresenius

INDUSTRYHealth careHQ COUNTRY GermanySTART YEAR2003

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


24 764

Warren Buff ett 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, Buff ett barely missed the cutoff —coming in at #101, one spot short. Had the list been based solely on total shareholder return, Buff ett would have placed almost at the top. But two factors in HBR’s methodology pushed his ranking down.

The fi rst is the way we calculate fi nancial performance for CEOs who’ve been in the job for more than 20 years. We incorporate three fi nancial 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 fi nancial returns of CEOs who took offi ce 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 Buff ett created during his fi rst 25 years at the company—but despite that, he still had the 23rd best overall fi nancial performance of the 907 CEOs we assessed.

The second factor is Berkshire’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. On this metric, Buff ett ranked #798 out of the 907 CEOs we looked at. Sustainalytics, the research fi rm 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, Buff ett’s very low placement in it was enough to pull him out of the top 100.

101

Warren Buff ett

COMPANY Berkshire Hathaway


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA

FINANCIAL ESGRANKING RANKING23 798

Paul Desmarais Jr.

COMPANYPower Corporation of Canada

INDUSTRYFinancial servicesHQ COUNTRY CanadaSTART YEAR1996

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


93 445

Leonard Schleifer

COMPANYRegeneron Pharmaceuticals


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


8 794

Dieter Zetsche

COMPANYDaimler


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


181 105

Douglas Baker Jr.

COMPANYEcolab


FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


132 ��350

Wolfgang Eder

COMPANYVoestalpine

INDUSTRYMaterials HQ COUNTRY AustriaSTART YEAR2004

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


144 ��306

Vittorio Colao

COMPANYVodafone

INDUSTRYTelecommunicationHQ COUNTRY United KingdomSTART YEAR2008

FOUNDER INSIDER

CHAIRMAN MBA


208 ��51

HBR.ORG


Where’s Warren?


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Nov15 BIG CEO 100 List