A recent study has found that the top CEOs of the biggest businesses studied economics, business administration, and engineering when they were at college, with most of them graduating from Harvard University.
According to Preply, a language learning app specializing in Spanish classes online, a total of 69 CEOs have come from the world-famous private college in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In fact, the USA is the top country to produce the most graduates, with two of the world’s top three being situated in the nation (University of Pennsylvania). Only the France-based Ecole Centrale de Paris separates the two.
The study also revealed that seven of the top 10 were located in the US, with France (two) and South Korea (one) making up the list.
Harvard is the university that produces most CEOs
Although the findings revealed that there is no specific degree path that needs to be followed to become a CEO, there is one university that students should be going to if they want to improve their chances of becoming one.
Harvard is a prestigious college and is one of those that make up the eight that form the Ivy League. The figure of 69 CEOs to have graduated from the university is more than double that of the #2 Ecole Centrale de Paris (30) and features alumni including Mark Zuckerburg (Meta).
34.6% of CEOs globally have a Masters or Doctorate degree
The global study also revealed that more than a third of the 1,000 CEOs that form the list of the largest international companies had acquired a Masters or Doctorate degree. As of 2024, 34.6% of the world’s biggest CEOs have one of these postgraduate degrees.
Interestingly, most of them are American. More than half (56.5%) are from America, with the next figure being just 6.8%, which comes from China. France (5.7%) and the UK (5.4%) are the only other nations to have a percentage greater than 5%.
Economics the leading subject for CEOs
There is no specific MBA that is required for an individual to become a CEO, but it shows that there are some that seem to help them gain the position within a firm.
According to the findings, most CEOs studied economics, with 11.6% of those employed in the role having earned an MBA in the subject. It perhaps helps for them to have an economic background, as this helps them to understand what they need to do to ensure the business is as profitable as possible. This perhaps also explains why business administration (7.6%) is the second-most popular degree subject.
Surprisingly, engineering (5.3%) is third in the list, with the likes of Jean-Laurent Bonnafé (BNP Paribas) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon) who earned a degree in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton University.
It has been noted that there is no need for an MBA to be studied, although 22% of the world’s top CEOs do have one.
America seems to offer the best education to become a CEO
If you want to go to college and acquire a degree that helps you to become a CEO, then it would seem you would be best to go to the United States.
Of the top 30 schools in the world, the global study revealed that 22 of the very best were located across the US. Colleges from the East Coast all the way to the West Coast have been identified, with Harvard and Stanford being highlighted to be among the very best.
America’s status and presence within this space has perhaps helped with its appeal to foreign students who have gone on to become leading CEOs. Known as the ‘Land of Opportunity’, the country has been a popular destination for graduates when studying abroad.
The findings revealed that it had the largest percentage for students who had studied abroad and are in CEO positions worldwide, with 22.2%. This is more than double that of the next largest, China (10.8%) and the UK (9.0%). This would suggest that learning a language like English can be highly beneficial, especially when it is the global spoken business dialect.
No real winning formula but Harvard leading college
If the global study supports anything, it’s that there is no real winning formula for those who aspire to become the CEO of a global company. In fact, it highlights that there are several different paths that can be taken, as evidenced by those who hold these positions already.
Of course, there is data that can suggest that certain colleges are better than others. For instance, it would seem that you’d have a better chance of being able to become a CEO if you were to attend Harvard and study economics.
It is important to remember that not everyone has acquired an MBA, gone to a prestigious college, or studied abroad in an English-speaking country. Nonetheless, it does appear to have been beneficial for those who did all three of these.
