For the past 13 years, Spencer Stuart has conducted research on the developmental background and professional experience of the CEOs of leading companies in the US. This year our research was conducted among CEOs of S&P 500 companies.
This annual research allows us to compare the career paths of today's CEOs with those of previous years and to determine the areas in which there has been the most change. It reveals emerging trends among these leaders and draws a more detailed image as to what sort of experience is required of today's company leader — and what makes today's CEOs.
Did you know...
- Since 1980, the average age of the top 100 CEOs has decreased by three years, from 59 to 56.
- In 1980, the majority (51%) of Fortune 100 CEOs were age 60-69. Today, the majority (70%) fall into the 50-59 year age range.
- There were a total of 57 new CEOs included in the study this year, 73% more than last year.
- The median age for new CEOs in the S&P 500, 52 years, is lower than the S&P 500 median for all CEOs, which is 55 years.
- The percentage of S&P 500 New CEOs who received their undergraduate degrees from an Ivy League school this year is 21% (12 CEOs), which almost double that of the entire group.
- Information available in published CEO biographies indicates that S&P 100 CEOs are more likely to have international experience than the rest of their S&P 500 counterparts. This has held true for the past nine years (since data was trackable).
- This year, operations replaced finance as the most common area of experience; more than 30% of S&P 500 CEOs have operations experience. Finance and marketing are the second and third most common areas of experience among leading CEOs.
- For the fourth consecutive year, CEOs in the 401-500 group are least likely to sit on an external board.
The links below will take you to specific elements of the research as contained in our PDF.
The link to the complete study (PDF) can be found at the bottom of the page.
The following areas were analysed for this report:
S&P 500 turnover summary
Printing instructions:
These documents should be printed to 8.5 x 14 (US Legal) paper.
Research
Research for the 13th annual Route to the Top was prepared by Meghan Felicelli, Spencer Stuart, Chicago, Illinois. Research and trend comparisons are based on the S&P 500 ranking as of April 18, 2007; Fortune’s past rankings of the top 1,000 U.S. companies; Fortune’s May 5, 1980 ranking of the largest U.S. industrial corporations; and Fortune’s July 14, 1980 ranking of the 50 largest non-industrial companies.
Sources:
- Marquis Who’s Who in America, 1980-1981
- The Corporate Yellow Book, Summer 2006 edition
- 50,000 Leading U.S. Corporations-Business Trends, 1980
- Standard & Poor’s Register of Corporations, Directors & Executives, 1980
- QuestNT (Spencer Stuart’s proprietary database)
- Corporate web sites
- Company proxies
- Company press releases
- OneSource.com
- Hoovers.com
- Prior to 2006, University registrars were phoned to verify degree information when necessary
- Companies were contacted to request or verify biographical information when necessary
For information about copying, distributing and displaying this work, contact permissions@spencerstuart.com.
(PDF - 322KB)