Despite a scandal-ridden year in Silicon Valley, there are still some tech workers who love where they work – and who they work for.
Glassdoor, an employee review site, conducted its annual Employee’s Choice Awards, part of which includes a report on the top 100 CEOs to work for, based entirely on voluntary and anonymous employee feedback in the last year. Of those hundred, 26 of the top CEOs are specifically in tech, with 17 based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
One thing to note before we jump into the list: even though last year’s list included one woman – Stitch Fix CEO Katrina Lake – this year’s list is all men. That’s largely because the tech industry is male-dominated. It may also be related to how studies have shown that employees generally review women leaders more harshly.
Other absences from this year’s list include Jack Dorsey, CEO of both Square and Twitter, and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who made the list last year as the then-CEO of Expedia.
Out of Glassdoor's report of 100 Top CEOs of 2018, take a look to see where tech CEOs placed.
26. Workday — Aneel Bhusri
91% approval rating
#97 out of the top 100 CEOs
#26 among tech CEOs
Workday provides software for human resources and financial systems management.
25. Apple — Tim Cook
91% approval rating
#96 out of the top 100 CEOs
#25 among tech CEOs
Apple produces the iPhone, iPad, and Mac - some of the most successful consumer electronics products in the world.
Cook actually dropped 43 spots on the top 100 since last year, marking the single biggest drop of a tech CEO. Still, this is Cook's sixth consecutive appearance on the list.
24. VMware — Pat Gelsinger
92% approval rating
#78 out of the top 100 CEOs
#24 among tech CEOs
VMware, owned by Dell, provides cloud computing and virtualization software for developers.
23. HP — Dion Weisler
92% approval rating
#70 out of the top 100 CEOs
#23 among tech CEOs
HP makes printers and PCs, plus an array of business services.
22. Arm — Simon Segars
93% approval rating
#56 out of the top 100 CEOs
#22 among tech CEOs
Arm designs its namesake ARM processors, which are then licensed out to chipmakers for use in smartphones and other small electronics.
21. Extreme Networks — Ed Meyercord
93% approval rating
#54 out of the top 100 CEOs
#21 among tech CEOs
Extreme Networks is a company that offers wired and wireless networking solutions for businesses.
20. Yardi Systems — Anant Yardi
93% approval rating
#53 out of the top 100 CEOs
#20 among tech CEOs
Yardi Systems supplies real estate companies with property management and accounting software.
19. Guidewire — Marcus Ryu
94% approval rating
#48 out of the top 100 CEOs
#19 among tech CEOs
Guidewire is a company that provides technology for to the insurance industry.
18. Google — Sundar Pichai
94% approval rating
#45 out of the top 100 CEOs
#18 among tech CEOs
Google is the world's largest search engine, plus the creator of the Android operating system and G Suite productivity tools.
Last year, Pichai was #9 among tech CEOs, meaning his approval rating dipped a little over the last 12 months.
17. Paylocity — Steve Beauchamp
95% approval rating
#34 out of the top 100 CEOs
#17 among tech CEOs
Paylocity provides human resources software and payroll services for businesses.
16. SAP — Bill McDermott
95% approval rating
#33 out of the top 100 CEOs
#16 among tech CEOs
SAP, the largest enterprise software company in the world, provides databases and other crucial tools for businesses.
15. Ultimate Software — Scott Scherr
95% approval rating
#31 out of the top 100 CEOs
#15 among tech CEOs
Ultimate Software provides human resources and payroll solutions on a cloud-based platform.
14. Kronos — Aron J. Ain
95% approval rating
#27 out of the top 100 CEOs
#14 among tech CEOs
Kronos provides companies with workflow management services.
13. HubSpot — Brian Halligan
95% approval rating
#26 out of the top 100 CEOs
#13 among tech CEOs
HubSpot offers sales and marketing software.
12. Fast Enterprise — Martin Rankin
96% approval rating
#25 out of the top 100 CEOs
#12 among tech CEOs
Fast Enterprises is a government contractor IT consulting company. CEO Martin Rankin was number two among tech CEOs on last year's list.
11. Intuit — Brad Smith
96% approval rating
#22 out of the top 100 CEOs
#11 among tech CEOs
Intuit offers personal financial and tax software, including the ubiqitous TurboTax. CEO Brad Smith has dropped a few spots among tech CEOS since last year, slipping from number seven to 11.
10. Microsoft — Satya Nadella
96% approval rating
#20 out of the top 100 CEOs
#10 among tech CEOs
Microsoft is one of the world's biggest software companies, with products including Windows, Office, the Xbox console, and the Azure cloud platform.
CEO Satya Nadella made it on the list of top tech CEOs for the first time last year - and has moved up three spots.
9. Cengage — Michael Hansen
96% approval rating
#17 out of the top 100 CEOs
#9 among tech CEOs
Cengage is a e-textbook platform. This is CEO Michael Hansen's first year on the list.
8. Facebook — Mark Zuckerberg
96% approval rating
#16 out of the top 100 CEOs
#8 among tech CEOs
Despite a scandal-ridden year for Facebook, CEO Mark Zuckerberg is on the list of top tech CEOs for the sixth year running.
But his position has slipped slightly from last year, when he was the fifth most popular tech CEO.
7. Ellie Mae — Jonathan H. Corr
96% approval rating
#14 out of the top 100 CEOs
#7 among tech CEOs
Ellie Mae is a software company that processes mortgage applications. This is the first year CEO Jonathan H. Corr has made the list.
6. Adobe — Shantanu Narayen
96% approval rating
#13 out of the top 100 CEOs
#5 among tech CEOs
Adobe offers design, graphic design and marketing software, including the mega-popular Photoshop.
5. World Wide Technology — Jim Kavanaugh
97% approval rating
#11 out of the top 100 CEOs
#5 among tech CEOs
World Wide Technology is a technology consulting company that helps business adopt technologies like cloud computing.
Jim Kavanaugh was the top tech CEO on last year's list.
4. Salesforce — Marc Benioff
97% approval rating
#10 out of the top 100 CEOs
#4 among tech CEOs
Salesforce is a cloud computing company that offers sales, marketing and support services. CEO Marc Benioff is one of three top tech CEOs who have made the list six years in a row.
3. LinkedIn — Jeff Weiner
97% approval rating
#8 out of the top 100 CEOs
#3 among tech CEOs
LinkedIn is a professional social network owned by Microsoft. Jeff Weiner, the company's CEO, is the 8th highest on the overall list of CEOs - up from #16 last year.
2. DocuSign — Daniel Springer
99% approval rating
#3 out of the top 100 CEOs
#2 among tech CEOs
Docusign is an e-signature software company.
1. Zoom — Erin S. Yuan
99% approval rating
#1 out of the top 100 CEOs
#1 among tech CEOs
Zoom is a videoconferencing startup founded by Eric S. Yuan, a former Cisco executive, in 2011. Yuan, an immigrant from China, is the first person of color to be included in Glassdoor's annual rankings.
