While companies are defined by the work of their staff, they all need a figurehead and a leader to act as the face of the business, and to shape their corporate strategy. That’s where the CEO comes in.
The Harvard Business Review this week revealed its 2018 list of the best performing CEOs on the planet. For the second consecutive year, Pablo Isla, CEO of Inditex, the fashion giant behind brands like Zara, Massimo Dutti, and Pull and Bear took home the top spot.
The ranking is created by looking at three key financial variables: The change in market capitalisation a CEO has overseen, the country-adjusted total shareholder return, and the industry-adjusted total shareholder return.
HBR also measured what it calls ESG, or the environmental, social, and governance score. Some examples factored into ESG include how much hazardous waste a company produces (environmental) and company diversity (social).
These four variables are then combined to give a score that helps identify how well a company is performing, and as a result how the CEO is doing.
Men dominate the list, reflecting the pool from which it is taken - the S&P 1200 index of global companies. In 2018, three female CEOs made the top 100, up from two last year. One woman - aerospace giant Lockheed Martin's Marillyn Hewson - fits in the top 34.
Check out the top third of the Harvard Business Review's list below. The full ranking can be found on HBR's website.
34. Laurence Fink, BlackRock
Sector: Asset management
CEO since: 1988
Country of company: USA
33. Carlos Brito, AB InBev
Sector: Beverages
CEO since: 2005
Country: Belgium
32. Robert Iger, Disney
Sector: Entertainment
CEO since: 2005
Country: USA
31. Mike Lawrie, DXC Technology
Sector: Information technology
CEO since: 2012
Country: USA
30. Shigenobu Nagamori, Nidec
Sector: Industrials
CEO since: 1973
Country: Japan
29. Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin
Sector: Aerospace
CEO since: 2013
Country: USA
28. Frederick Smith, FedEx
Sector: Transportation and logistics
CEO since: 1971
Country: USA
27. Richard Fairbank, Capital One
Sector: Financial services
CEO since: 1994
Country: USA
26. Ajay Banga, Mastercard
Sector: Payments
CEO since: 2010
Country: USA
=24. Florentino Perez Rodriguez, ACS
Sector: Healthcare
CEO since: 2008
Country: Denmark
=24. Lars Rasmussen, Coloplast
Sector: Industrials
CEO since: 1993
Country: Spain
23. Paolo Rocca, Tenaris
Sector: Energy
CEO since: 2002
Country: Argentina
22. Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase
Sector: Banking
CEO since: 2005
Country: USA
21. Sergio Marchionne, Fiat Chrysler
Sector: Automotive
CEO since: 2004
Country: Italy
Marchionne was included in the Harvard Business Review's ranking despite his death in July.
20. Benoit Poitier, Air Liquide
Sector: Materials
CEO since: 1997
Country: France
19. Fabrizio Freda, Estee Lauder
Sector: Cosmetics
CEO since: 2009
Country: USA
18. Terry Gou, Foxconn
Sector: Information technology
CEO since: 1974
Country: Taiwan
17. Hamid Moghadam, Prologis
Sector: Real estate
CEO since: 1997
Country: USA
16. Brad Smith, Intuit
Sector: Information technology
CEO since: 2008
Country: USA
Smith will step down as CEO at the end of 2018.
15. Michael Mussallem, Edwards Lifesciences
Sector: Healthcare
CEO since: 2000
Country: USA
14. Mark Parker, Nike
Sector: Sporting goods
CEO since: 2006
Country: USA
13. Bernard Charles, Dassault Systems
Sector: Information techology
CEO since: 1995
Country: France
12. Shantanu Narayen, Adobe Systems
Sector: Information technology
CEO since: 2007
Country: USA
11. Wes Bush, Northrop Grumman
Sector: Industrials
CEO since: 2010
Country: USA
10. Martin Bouygues, Bouygues
Sector: Industrials
CEO since: 1989
Country: France
9. Hisashi Ietsugu, Sysmex
Sector: Healthcare
CEO since: 1996
Country: Japan
8. Johan Thijs, KBC
Sector: Banking
CEO since: 2012
Country: Belgium
7. Jacques Aschenbroch, Valeo
Sector: Automotive
CEO since: 2009
Country: France
6. Marc Benioff, Salesforce
Sector: Information technology
CEO since: 2001
Country: USA
5. Elmar Degenhart, Continental
Sector: Automotive parts
CEO since: 2009
Country: Germany
4. Francois-Henri Pinault, Kering
Sector: Luxury consumer goods
CEO since: 2005
Country: France
3. Bernard Arnault, LVMH
Sector: Luxury consumer goods
CEO since: 1989
Country: France
2. Jensen Huang, Nvidia
Sector: Information technology
CEO since: 1993
Country: USA
1. Pablo Isla, Inditex
Sector: Retail
CEO since: 2005
Country: Spain