Getting an MBA isn’t a requirement to become a CEO.
That still begs the question: Where did the one-third of Fortune 500 CEOs who hold an MBA attend business school?
Ilana Kowarski and Melissa Shin, of US News, recently mapped out where top CEOs got their MBAs from.
RANK
Among the top 100 CEOs of Fortune 500 companies who do have an MBA, US News found that they didn’t necessarily attend highly ranked b-schools.
“Several of these CEOs earned their MBA degrees from B-schools that did not receive a rank in the U.S. News Best Business Schools rankings,” Kowarski and Shin write. “For instance, Stephen Squeri, the chairman and CEO at American Express Co., earned his MBA degree from Manhattan College’s O’Malley School of Business, which has an unranked full-time MBA program.”
INTERNATIONAL
While the US is a stronghold for b-schools, many Fortune 500 CEOs chose to earn their MBAs abroad.
For instance, according to US News, Ramon Laguarta, the chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Inc., received his MBA from the ESADE Business School in Spain.
A Financial Times report also found that INSEAD, which is based in France, produced nine Fortune 500 CEOs. They include António Horta-Osório of Lloyd’s Banking Group, Tidjane Thiam of Prudential, and André Calantzopoulos of Philip Morris International.
US B-SCHOOLS
American b-schools still hold an edge for Fortune 500 CEOs.
In the US, Harvard Business School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and Columbia Business School all graduated two or more Fortune 500 CEOs.
Sources: US News, Financial Times
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FAQs
But for those Fortune 1000 leaders with an MBA, Harvard Business School (HBS), University of Chicago (Booth), and Northwestern University (Kellogg) are the schools producing the most.
Which MBA is best for CEO? ›
But most CEOs will have at least a bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline, followed by a specialized MBA in Marketing, Finance, Economics, Commerce, or any field related to the industry one wants to work in.
How many Fortune 100 CEOs have MBA? ›
Business school may be your ticket to the boardroom. More than 40% of the chief executive officers in the top 100 Fortune companies have studied for an MBA, according to research from Heidrick & Struggles, the executive search firm.
What degree do most Fortune 500 CEOs have? ›
Economics, business administration, and engineering are the most popular subjects studied by top CEOs. On average, 34.6% of top CEOs have a master's or doctorate degree and. 22.3% of top CEOs have a Master of Business Administration (MBA), 16.4% of top CEOs studied abroad; and.
How many Fortune 500 CEOs went to HBs? ›
No College or University has more alumni who are now the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies than Harvard University, with 41 former students in those coveted spots at their respective companies. In fact, this is nearly double than the 2nd most amount, which goes to the University of Pennsylvania with 23 alumni.
Where do most CEOs get their MBA? ›
Where did the Fortune 1000 c-suite executives obtain their MBAs?
- Other. 69%
- Harvard. 8%
- Chicago Booth. 6%
- Northwestern Kellogg. 6%
- Penn Wharton. 5%
- Columbia. 3%
- Stanford GSB. 2%
- MIT Sloan. 1%
Which MBA has the highest salary? ›
Some of the highest-paying MBA specialisations are:
- Finance.
- Marketing.
- Economics.
- Entrepreneurship.
- International Business.
- Investment Management.
- Innovation Management.
- Data Analytics.
Does Mark Zuckerberg have an MBA? ›
Engineering is the most-represented non-business degree, including electrical, mechanical, and computer; other degrees that appear more than once include law, computer science, economics, history, and political science. A few — notably Mark Zuckerberg — did not get a college degree at all.
How rare is an MBA? ›
The MBA has been the most popular graduate degree in America since 2010-2011 when it surpassed a master's in education as the number one choice for graduate students. Slightly more than 250,000 students are enrolled in MBA programs around the world, according to the AACSB.
Which MBA program has the most billionaires? ›
Harvard Business School has produced 64 billionaire alumni, the most by far of any graduate business school in the world, according to a new report from Wealth-X. There is a massive gap between Harvard and even the next highest ranked business school, Stanford University, which has 23 billionaire MBA alumni.
- May 2, 2024. 10 Degree Subjects Most Likely to Make You a Billionaire. ...
- Engineering. Many of the world's richest people, about 22% of the top 100 billionaires, studied engineering. ...
- Economics. Learning about economics is important for making smart money choices. ...
- Finance. ...
- No Degree. ...
- Business. ...
- Computer Science. ...
- Arts.
Where do most CEOs go to college? ›
What is the most popular degree for a CEO? ›
Economics, business administration, and engineering are the most popular subjects studied by top CEOs. On average, 34.6% of top CEOs have a master's or doctorate degree and. 22.3% of top CEOs have a Master of Business Administration (MBA), 16.4% of top CEOs studied abroad; and.
How many Fortune 500 CEOs have PhDs? ›
Current CEOs
22 out of 38 CEOs have a Master's or higher degree. 13 have an MBA (again, compared to zero founders); 2 more did Law. Computer Science is relatively rare at the postgraduate level - and no current CEOs have a doctorate.
How many CEOs went to Wharton? ›
The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School was next, with 13 CEOs, while Stanford was third, with ten. Following the big three was the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with 7, including Chevron's John Watson, who is the MBA who heads up the highest ranked company (No.
What is the average GPA of Fortune 500 CEOs? ›
They are not mistaken; this is true: more than 50% of the CEOs of companies from the Fortune 500 list graduated from university with an average C score of three, and the GPA score of American millionaires is 2.9 / B.
What is the best MBA concentration for CEO? ›
An MBA in Entrepreneurship is an ideal choice for aspiring CEOs who want to start their own company or work at a fledgling startup. An MBA in Leadership can help you develop the skills to inspire and develop others.
Should a CEO get an MBA? ›
The potential benefits of an MBA to CEOs also depends on the size of their company and their specific industry. For example, you can be the CEO of your own tech firm without an MBA. And if you want to become the CEO of a bank or financial institution, you may be just as well off getting a master's degree in finance.
What is the best Master's degree to become a CEO? ›
The most common degree among CEOs is an MBA, or Master of Business Administration. This degree equips aspiring CEOs with business, management, and leadership skills. Other degrees that CEOs frequently have include PhDs in business or economics, and bachelor's degrees in finance, business, or engineering.
Which MBA did Sundar Pichai do? ›
He holds an M.S. from Stanford University in materials science and engineering, and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was named a Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar, respectively.