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Fortune 500 CEOs from Business Schools

 

Earning an MBA degree is the first step towards building a strong career, however, what makes a  difference is how well are the management and leadership lessons learned in the business schools put to use and practice in the real world.

Nearly 40% of Fortune 500 CEOs have an MBA degree. Most of them earned it through the regular MBA program and others through Weekend or Executive programs. Irrespective of the program, learnings from their MBA program helped them with being innovative in their approach and led them to become leaders in their domain. Let us have a look at Fortune 500 CEOs with an MBA degree, listed University wise:

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

 

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google

Sundar Pichai

He got his engineering degree from IIT Kharagpur in metallurgy after which he did his M.S. from Stanford University and an MBA from Wharton School in Pennsylvania. He was named the Siebel Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.

He started his career as a consultant with McKinsey & Company, joined Google in 2004 and was appointed the CEO of Google in 2015. Before being appointed as the CEO, Sundar was the Vice President of Android, Chrome & Apps at Google.

Alex Gorsky, CEO of Johnson & Johnson

Alex Gorsky, CEO of Johnson & Johnson

He earned his MBA from the East Coast EMBA program at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1996. He is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Johnson & Johnson, one of just seven leaders who have served in the dual role since 1944.

Before assuming the CEO role at J&J in 2012, Alex has worked there for almost 15 years, starting his career as a sales representative and advancing through several sales, marketing and management positions.

 

Phebe N. Novakovic, CEO of General Dynamics Corp.

Phebe N. Novakovic

She earned her MBA from Wharton School in 1988. Before General Dynamics Crop. She worked for the Central Intelligence agency and the United States Department of Defence from 1997 to 2001

 

University of Chicago Booth School of Business

University of Chicago Booth School of Business

 

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft

Satya Nadella

He completed his Bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology in Karnataka and studied for his Weekend MBA Program from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Nadella worked at Sun Microsystems as a member of its technology staff before joining Microsoft in 1992.

He was appointed as the CEO of Microsoft in 2014, before that he held several senior positions in the company like President of the Server & Tools Division, Senior Vice-President of Research and Development for the Online Services Division, Vice-President of the Business Division, Corporate Vice-President of Business Solutions and Search & Advertising Platform Group and Executive Vice-President of Cloud and Enterprise group.

 

Fuqua School of Business of Duke University

Fuqua School of Business of Duke University

 

Tim Cook, CEO Apple Inc.

Tim Cook, CEO Apple

Tim became the CEO of Apple in 2011 and has been in the position for nine years now. He started as an interim CEO at Apple. He has an MBA from Duke University Fuqua School of Business.

Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School

 

James Dimon, Chairman & CEO JPMorgan Chase & Co.

James Dimon, Chairman & CEO JPMorgan Chase & Co.

He graduated in Arts from Tufts University in the year 1978 and received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1982. He had been President and Chief Operating Officer since JPMorgan Chase’s merger with Bank One Corporation in July 2004.

 

H.Lawrence Culp, Jr., CEO General Electric Co.

H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., CEO General Electric Co.

He has an MBA degree from Harvard Business School. He served as president and CEO of Danaher Corporation prior to joining GE, from 2000 to 2014. He was made the CEO of General Electric in 2018. Prior to that, he was Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School (2015-2018) and Senior Advisor of Bain Capital Private Equity (2017-2018), a global private equity firm Investor.

Charles F. Lowrey, CEO Prudential Financial Inc.

Charles F. Lowrey, CEO Prudential Financial Inc.

He has an MBA from Harvard University, a master’s degree in architecture from Yale University and a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Princeton University. Before joining Prudential in 2001, Lowrey was a managing director and head of the Americas for J.P. Morgan’s Real Estate and Lodging Investment Banking group in 1988.

Darius Adamczyk, CEO Honeywell International Inc.

Darius Adamczyk

He earned his MBA from Harvard University, a master’s degree in computer engineering from Syracuse University, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Michigan State University. Before joining Honeywell, Darius held several leadership positions with Ingersoll Rand and Booz Allen Hamilton. He began his career as an electrical engineer at General Electric in 1988.

 

Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University

Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University

 

Darren Woods, CEO, ExxonMobil

Darren Woods

Darren did his MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. In addition to an MBA, he holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University. Woods became the chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil in January 2017. He joined Exxon Company International in 1992 as a planning analyst.

Thomas J. Wilson, CEO The Allstate Corp.

Thomas J. Wilson

Thomas holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan. He has been CEO of Allstate since 2007 and became Chair of The Allstate Corporation’s Board of Directors in 2008. He has held key leadership positions at the company since 1995, including all major operating units.

 

Stanford Graduate School of Business

Stanford Graduate School of Business

 

Mary T. Barra, CEO General Motors Co.

Mary T. Barra

Mary is the first female appointed CEO of the company. She has an MBA degree from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, which she completed in 1990. She was elected Chairman of the GM Board of Directors in 2016 and has served as CEO of GM since 2014. Prior to that at GM she served as the Executive Vice President-Global Product Development, Vice President–Global Human Resources and Global Manufacturing Engineering. She started her career as GM in 1980 as a Kettering University Co-op Student in the Pontiac Motor Division.

Richard D. Fairbank, Founder and CEO of Capital One Financial Corp.

Richard D. Fairbank

He earned his MBA degree from Stanford Graduate School of business and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University. Prior to Capital One, Mr. Fairbank was Vice President and Head of the banking practice at a national strategy consulting firm. Mr. Fairbank served on MasterCard International’s Global Board of Directors from February 2004 until May 2006.

 

Columbia University

Columbia University

 

Gail Boudreaux, CEO of Anthem

Gail Boudreaux, CEO of Anthem

She completed her MBA from Columbia Business School, and before being made CEO of health insurance provider Anthem in 2017 she held a CEO role at United Healthcare. She ranked 31 on Chief Executive and RHR International’s CEO1000 Tracker in 2018, a ranking of the top 1,000 public/private companies.

 

New York University, Stern

New York University, Stern

 

Charles Scharf, CEO of Wells Fargo

Charles Scharf, CEO Wells Fargo

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from New York University which he completed in 1991. Before Wells Fargo, he was a managing director of One Equity Partners at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and chief executive officer of Retail Financial Services at JPMorgan Chase. He also was chief executive officer of the retail division of Bank One Corp., the chief financial officer of Bank One Corp., the chief financial officer of the Global Corporate and Investment Bank division of Citigroup, and chief financial officer of Salomon Smith Barney and its predecessor company.

 

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire

 

Roger C. Hochschild, President and CEO of Discover Financial Services

Roger C. Hochschild, President and CEO of Discover Financial Services

He received an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and an MBA from Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. He previously worked as the Chief Administrative & Strategic Officer, EVP at Morgan Stanley, Chief Marketing Officer & Executive Vice President for Discover Financial Services and Senior Executive Vice President at MBNA America Bank NA.

 

Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan—Ann Arbor

Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan—Ann Arbor

 

Vivek Sankaran, President and CEO of Albertsons Companies Inc.

Vivek Sankaran, President and CEO of Albertsons Companies Inc.

He has an MBA from the University of Michigan, a master’s degree in manufacturing from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai. He was appointed the CEO of Albertsons Companies in 2017. Prior to that, he served as CEO of PepsiCo Foods North America.

Yale School of Management

Yale School of Management

 

Indra Nooyi, Former Chairman and CEO Pepsi Co

Indra Nooyi

She received her bachelor’s degrees in physics, chemistry and mathematics from Madras Christian College of the University of Madras in 1974, and a Post Graduate Programme Diploma from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta in 1976. In 1978 she joined the Yale School of Management. Before PepsiCo, she worked in companies like Johnson & Johnson, textile firm Mettur Beardsell, Boston Consulting Group and Motorola.

 

University of California, Los Angeles

University of California, Los Angeles

 

John Stankey, CEO of AT&T

John Stankey, CEO of AT&T

John holds a B.B.A. degree in Finance from Loyola Marymount University and an MBA degree from UCLA. He joined AT&T in 1985 and was made the CEO in July 2020. He has served a variety of roles before his current role that includes CEO of Warner Media, CEO of AT&T Entertainment Group, Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Technology Officer, CEO of AT&T Operations, and CEO of AT&T Business Solutions.

 

Collins College of Business of the University of Tulsa

Collins College of Business of the University of Tulsa

 

Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart

Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart

He graduated from the University of Arkansas with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and an MBA degree from the University of Tulsa in 1991. He began working at Walmart in 1984 as a teenager in a distribution center position. In 1990 he rejoined the company as a buyer trainee in sporting goods after which he held several positions at Walmart. He was appointed the CEO of the company in 2009.

 

Manya Education Advantage

Manya – The Princeton Review offers end-to-end study abroad services encompassing admissions consulting services, test preparation, English language training, career assessment and international internship opportunities to study abroad aspirants. Founded in 2002, Manya holds an impeccable track record of enabling more than two lac fifty thousand students to accomplish their study abroad dreams through its network of 45+ centers across India.

Manya has formed long-lasting global alliances with several market leaders in the education industry in order to maximise the benefits of its large service portfolio. Their list of esteemed partners and affiliations includes – The Princeton Review (TPR), Cambridge University Press (CUP), Admissionado, Cogito Hub, British Council, Tuding to name a few. Manya has also forged 600+ partnerships with international universities across top study abroad destinations.

Admissions Consulting Services

At Manya – The Princeton Review, we understand the importance of the right counseling and guidance when it comes to higher education abroad. Students and parents have multiple concerns related to studying abroad, course requirements, application processes, career advice, visa policies, financial aid and other challenges while staying abroad.

Our expert education advisors have years of experience in servicing study abroad aspirants. They provide appropriate support to all students by guiding them through every step of the application process. They conduct in-depth screening and discussions to help students identify their exact needs and follow it up by finding the best match for them. Services include ––

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If you have convinced on pursuing an MBA program in the US, act now. Or you can always reach us at MANYA for admission consulting. Our team of admission advisors will be happy to assist you, as they do for many other aspirants like you. So, contact our counselors today to experience a smooth process to your admission into a top US college or university.

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FAQs

Do I need an MBA to become a CEO?
An MBA from a reputed Business School will certainly help you accelerate your career path to becoming a part of C-suite. An MBA degree significantly helps in learning innovative management and leadership skills.

Which school has produced the most number of Fortune 500 CEOs?
There is no one school that claims to produce the most number of CEOs. According to US News and Businessresearchguide, Texas A&M University, Harvard, Cornell and Kellogg business management schools count the most number of Fortune 500 CEOs as their alumni.

What is the most common major of CEOs who have done an MBA?
While the top CEOs have majors in varying subjects, based on the Investopedia article published in August 2020 most of the top CEOs have an Engineering degree.

 

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