Tech Executives Dominate CEO Rankings for 2015

Four out of the top 10 CEOs in the United States—led by Apple’s Tim Cook—run tech companies, according to a new listing from ExecRank.

Tim Cook is the CEO of Apple and serves on its board of directors. Before being named CEO in August 2011, Cook was Apple’s chief operating officer and was responsible for all of the company’s worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end management of Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries. He also headed Apple’s Macintosh division and played a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships, ensuring flexibility in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace. Cook earned a Master of Business Administration from Duke University, where he was a Fuqua Scholar, and a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering from Auburn University.

Larry Page, the CEO of Alphabet and one of Google’s founders, has served as a member of Alphabet’s board of directors since October 2015. He has served as a member of Google’s board of directors since its inception in September 1998 and as Google’s CEO from April 2011 to October 2015. Page holds a Master of Science degree in computer science from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering, with a concentration in computer engineering, from the University of Michigan.

Satya Nadella is CEO of Microsoft. Before being named CEO on Feb. 4, 2014, Nadella held leadership roles in both enterprise and consumer businesses across the company. After joining Microsoft in 1992, Nadella quickly became known within the company as a leader who could span a breadth of technologies and businesses to transform some of Microsoft’s biggest product offerings. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Mangalore University, a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago.

Doug McMillon is president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores. McMillon serves on the boards of directors for Wal-Mart, the Consumer Goods Forum, the U.S.-China Business Council, Enactus and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Originally from Jonesboro, Ark., McMillon graduated from the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration. He earned his MBA in finance from the University of Tulsa.

Stephen Schwarzman is chairman, CEO and co-founder of Blackstone. Schwarzman has been involved in all phases of the firm’s development since its founding in 1985. Schwarzman is an active philanthropist with a history of supporting education and schools. Whether in business or in philanthropy, he has always attempted to tackle big problems and find transformative solutions. Schwarzman holds a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He has served as an adjunct professor at the Yale School of Management and on the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors.

Warren Buffett is an American business magnate, investor and philanthropist and is widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th century. Buffett is the chairman, CEO and the largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway, a diversified company, and consistently ranks among the world’s wealthiest people. He was ranked as the world’s wealthiest person in 2008 and as the third-wealthiest in 2015. In 2012, Time named Buffett one of the world’s most influential people. He graduated at age 19 with a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He also earned a Master of Science degree in economics at Columbia Business School in 1951. Buffett also attended the New York Institute of Finance.

Alex Gorsky has been the CEO of Johnson & Johnson since April 26, 2012, and a member of the company’s board of directors since 2014. Alex began his career as a sales representative with Janssen Pharmaceutica in 1988. Over the next 15 years, he advanced through positions of increasing responsibility in sales, marketing and management. In 2001, Alex was appointed president of Janssen, and in 2003, he was named company group chairman of Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceuticals business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Gorsky graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. In 1996, he obtained an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Mark Zuckerberg is co-founder and CEO of social networking Website Facebook, as well as one of the world’s youngest billionaires. He co-founded Facebook out of his college dorm room at Harvard University. The birth of Facebook was portrayed in the 2012 film “The Social Network.” Zuckerberg left Harvard after his sophomore year to concentrate on the site, the user base of which has grown to more than 1.3 billion people. In the 11 years the company has been in business, it has become one of the world’s most successful Web services platforms.

Kenneth Chenault is the CEO and chairman of American Express and is only the third African-American CEO of a Fortune 500 company. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Bowdoin College in 1973 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1976. After Harvard, Chenault worked as an associate at the law firm Rogers & Wells (1977–1979) in New York City and as a consultant for Bain & Company (1979–1981). He joined American Express in 1981, working in the Strategic Planning Group. Chenault became president and COO in 1997 and CEO of American Express in 2001.

Jeffrey Immelt is currently the chairman of the board and CEO of the U.S.-based conglomerate General Electric. Immelt has been with GE since 1982, when he graduated from Harvard University with an MBA. He held a number of increasingly senior positions in GE’s plastics, appliances and health care businesses. Immelt became a GE officer in 1989, joined the GE Capital board in 1997 and took on the leadership of GE Healthcare before being named CEO. He was selected as GE’s CEO by the board of directors in 2000 to replace Jack Welch upon Welch’s retirement from GE.