James P. Gorman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley
Who is the best CEO in the world? Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren E. Buffett, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, AT&T Inc’s John T. Stankey, or Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook? Well-known or unknown, these are the most successful, talented, and influential CEOs for long-term investors to watch as they build remarkable businesses that are worth holding for decades.
The world’s best chief executive officers (CEOs) typically aren’t the flashiest. They think beyond tomorrow’s share prices or the next earnings call to create lasting value. To compile our results, we collected data on nearly 3,000 CEOs worldwide and examined how CEOs of large public companies performed. The best CEO in the long haul turned out to be one who frequently underperformed in the short term — while continuing to make big bets on the future. The CEOs who made the 2023 list have undeniably been effective and influential.
So which global CEOs delivered solid results over the long run, and which business leaders would truly show strong performance? Our 2023 list of top performers provide an objective answer. However, our ranking does contain a few surprises. You’ll see some relatively unknown faces at the top.
The CEOWORLD magazine has revealed its annual list of the world’s most influential chief executive officers (CEOs) and business executives. Unsurprisingly, James P. Gorman, Chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley, came first in the CEOWORLD magazine’s global ranking of the world’s best CEOs across all industries for 2023. The highest-ranking woman CEO is Karen S. Lynch, president and chief executive of CVS Health, who heads one of the largest healthcare companies in the world.
The 2023 rankings placed Doug McMillon, President and CEO of Walmart, in the second spot ahead of Amazon CEO Andy Jassy (No. 3), Apple CEO Tim Cook (No. 4), CVS Health’s CEO Karen S. Lynch (No. 5), and Aramco President and Chief Executive Officer Amin H. Nasser ranked sixth.
While UnitedHealth Group’s CEO Andrew Witty ranked seventh, and Darren W. Woods of Exxon Mobil Corporation eighth. Overall, among the world’s top 10 best CEOs and business executives for 2023, the ninth and tenth positions are held by Warren E. Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc and Alphabet Inc. chief executive Sundar Pichai.
CVS Health’s CEO Karen S. Lynch (No. 5); Rosalind Brewer, CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance; Gail K. Boudreaux, CEO at Elevance Health; Mary Barra, Chair and Chief Executive Officer at General Motors; Sarah M. London, CEO at Centene; Fannie Mae’s Priscilla Almodovar; UPS’s Carol B. Tome; Citigroup’s Jane Fraser; Corie Barry of Best Buy; Susan Patricia Griffith of Progressive Corporation; Catherine Fiamma MacGregor of Engie; Thasunda Brown Duckett of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA); Oracle’s Safra Ada Catz; Phebe Novakovic of General Dynamics; Northrop Grumman’s Kathy J. Warden; Accenture’s Julie Sweet, PT Pertamina (Persero) CEO Nicke Widyawati; and Aviva CEO Amanda Blanc (No. 195) are the only 18 women to make the top 200 CEOs list this year.
Best CEOs In The World Of 2023
| Rank | Executive | Company | Title | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James P. Gorman | Morgan Stanley | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 2 | Doug McMillon | Walmart Inc | President and CEO | United States |
| 3 | Andy Jassy | Amazon.com, Inc | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 4 | Tim Cook | Apple Inc. | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 5 | Karen S. Lynch | CVS Health | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 6 | Amin H. Nasser | Aramco | President and Chief Executive Officer | Saudi Arabia |
| 7 | Andrew Witty | UnitedHealth Group | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 8 | Darren W. Woods | Exxon Mobil Corporation | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 9 | Warren E. Buffett | Berkshire Hathaway Inc | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 10 | Sundar Pichai | Alphabet Inc. | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 11 | Wael Sawan | Shell plc | Chief Executive Officer | United Kingdom |
| 12 | Brian Tyler | McKesson Corporation | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 13 | Oliver Blume | Volkswagen Group | Chief Executive Officer | Germany |
| 14 | Steven H. Collis | AmerisourceBergen Corporation | Chairman, President and CEO | United States |
| 15 | Jeremy Weir | Trafigura Group | Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | Singapore |
| 16 | Walter Craig Jelinek | Costco Wholesale Corporation | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 17 | David Cordani | Cigna Group | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 18 | Young-Way Liu | Hon Hai Precision Industry (Foxconn) | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | Taiwan |
| 19 | John T. Stankey | AT&T Inc. | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 20 | Satya Nadella | Microsoft Corporation | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 21 | Gary Nagle | Glencore | Chief Executive Officer | Switzerland |
| 22 | Jason Hollar | Cardinal Health | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 23 | Michael K. (Mike) Wirth | Chevron Corporation | Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 24 | Ted Decker | Home Depot | Chair, President & Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 25 | Patrick Pouyanne | TotalEnergies | Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer | France |
| 26 | Rosalind Brewer | Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 27 | Carlos Tavares | Stellantis | Chief Executive Officer | Netherlands |
| 28 | Michael J. Hennigan | Marathon Petroleum Corporation | Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 29 | Gail K. Boudreaux | Elevance Health | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 30 | Bernard Looney | BP p.l.c. | Chief Executive Officer | United Kingdom |
| 31 | William Rodney McMullen | Kroger | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 32 | Jim Farley | Ford | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 33 | Hans Vestberg | Verizon Communications, Inc. | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 34 | Ola Källenius | Mercedes-Benz Group AG | Chairman of the Board of Management and Chief Executive Officer | Germany |
| 35 | James Dimon | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 36 | Mary Teresa Barra | General Motors | Chair and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 37 | Katsuya Nakanishi | Mitsubishi | Director, President and Chief Executive Officer | Japan |
| 38 | Sarah M. London | Centene | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 39 | Mark Zuckerberg | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 40 | Oliver Bäte | Allianz SE | Chairman of the Board of Management and Chief Executive Officer | Germany |
| 41 | Brian L. Roberts | Comcast Corporation | Chairman & Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 42 | Mark E Lashier | Phillips 66 | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 43 | Thomas Buberl | Axa S.A. | Group Chief Executive Officer | France |
| 44 | Joseph W. Gorder | Valero Energy | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 45 | Michael S. Dell | Dell Technologies | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 46 | Brian C. Cornell | Target | Chair and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 47 | Priscilla Almodovar | Fannie Mae | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 48 | Alexey Borisovich Miller | PJSC Gazprom | Chairman of the Management Committee and Chief Executive Officer | Russia |
| 49 | Carol B. Tome | United Parcel Service - UPS | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 50 | Markus Rauramo | Fortum | President and Chief Executive Officer | Finland |
| 51 | Marvin R. Ellison | Lowe's | Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 52 | Brian Thomas Moynihan | Bank of America | Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 53 | Oliver Zipse | BMW - Bayerische Motoren Werke AG | Chairman of the Board of Management and Chief Executive Officer | Germany |
| 54 | Joaquin Duato | Johnson & Johnson | Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 55 | Bernard Arnault | LVMH | Chairman And Chief Executive Officer | France |
| 56 | Juan Ricardo Luciano | Archer Daniels Midland | Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 57 | Toshihiro Mibe | Honda Motor Co., Ltd | President and Chief Executive Officer | Japan |
| 58 | Rajesh Subramaniam | FedEx Corporation | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 59 | Bruce D. Broussard | Humana | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 60 | Timotheus Hottges | Deutsche Telekom AG | Chief Executive Officer | Germany |
| 61 | Charles W. Scharf | Wells Fargo & Company | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 62 | Michael Tipsord | State Farm Insurance | Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 63 | Philippe Donnet | Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. | Chief Executive Officer | Italy |
| 64 | Dr. Albert Bourla | Pfizer | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 65 | Jane Fraser | Citigroup | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 66 | Ramon Laguarta | PepsiCo | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 67 | Philippe Brassac | Crédit Agricole | Chief Executive Officer | France |
| 68 | Patrick (Pat) Gelsinger | Intel Corporation | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 69 | Jon R. Moeller | Procter & Gamble | Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 70 | H. Lawrence Culp Jr. | General Electric | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 71 | Francesco Starace | Enel S.p.A. | Chief Executive Officer and General Manager | Italy |
| 72 | Arvind Krishna | IBM | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 73 | Michel A. Khalaf | MetLife, Inc. | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 74 | Jean-Bernard Lévy | EDF - Électricité de France S.A. | Chief Executive Officer | France |
| 75 | Charles F. Lowrey | Prudential Financial, Inc. | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 76 | Vivek Sankaran | Albertsons Companies, Inc. | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 77 | Robert Allen Iger | The Walt Disney Company | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 78 | Ulf Mark Schneider | Nestlé S.A. | Chief Executive Officer | Switzerland |
| 79 | James (Jim) D. Taiclet | Lockheed Martin Corporation | Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 80 | Michael DeVito | Freddie Mac | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 81 | Shrikant Madhav Vaidya | Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IndianOil) | Chairman | India |
| 82 | David M. Solomon | Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 83 | Gregory J. Hayes | Raytheon Technologies | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 84 | Martin Brudermuller | BASF SE | Chairman of the Board of Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer | Germany |
| 85 | Enrique J. Lores | HP Inc. | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 86 | David L. Calhoun | Boeing Company | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 87 | Samuel N. Hazen | HCA Healthcare | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 88 | Claudio Descalzi | Eni S.p.A. | Chief Executive Officer | Italy |
| 89 | Richard A. Gonzalez | AbbVie | Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 90 | James R. Fitterling | Dow Inc. | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 91 | Elon Musk | Tesla | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 92 | Leonhard Birnbaum | E.ON SE | Chairman of the Board of Management and Chief Executive Officer | Germany |
| 93 | Thomas J. Wilson | Allstate | Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 94 | Peter S. Zaffino | American International Group, Inc. (AIG) | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 95 | Corie Barry | Best Buy Co. Inc. | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 96 | Anders Opedal | Equinor ASA | President and Chief Executive Officer | Norway |
| 97 | Christopher L. Winfrey | Charter Communications | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 98 | Kevin P. Hourican | Sysco Corporation | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 99 | Robert M. Davis | Merck | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 100 | Frans Muller | Ahold Delhaize | President and Chief Executive Officer; Chair and member of the Management Board and Executive Committee | Netherlands |
| 101 | Craig DeSanto | New York Life Insurance | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 102 | D. James (Jim) Umpleby III | Caterpillar Inc. | Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 103 | Kenichiro Yoshida | Sony | Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer | Japan |
| 104 | Charles H. Robbins | Cisco Systems | Chair and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 105 | Ernie Herrman | TJX Companies Inc. | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 106 | Igor Sechin | Rosneft | Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Management Board | Russia |
| 107 | Randall T. Jones | Publix Super Markets | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 108 | Ryan M. Lance | ConocoPhillips | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 109 | Alexandre Bompard | Carrefour | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | France |
| 110 | Timothy M. Sweeney | Liberty Mutual Insurance | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 111 | Susan Patricia Griffith | Progressive Corporation | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 112 | Kirt A. Walker | Nationwide | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 113 | Jean-Laurent Bonnafé | BNP Paribas | Director and Chief Executive Officer | France |
| 114 | Donnie D. King | Tyson Foods | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 115 | Giovanni Caforio | Bristol Myers Squibb | Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 116 | Ken Murphy | Tesco PLC | Group Chief Executive Officer | United Kingdom |
| 117 | John Donahoe | Nike Inc. | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 118 | John C. May | Deere & Company | Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 119 | Stephen J. Squeri | American Express Company | Chairman And Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 120 | Catherine Fiamma MacGregor | Engie | Group Chief Executive Officer | France |
| 121 | Robert B. Ford | Abbott Laboratories Inc. | Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 122 | Thasunda Brown Duckett | Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 123 | Safra Ada Catz | Oracle Corporation | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 124 | Joachim Wenning | Munich Re | Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer | Germany |
| 125 | Marc N. Casper | Thermo Fisher Scientific | Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 126 | James Quincey | Coca-Cola Company | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 127 | Phebe Novakovic | General Dynamics | Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 128 | Mukesh D. Ambani | Reliance Industries | Chairman & Managing Director | India |
| 129 | José Antonio Álvarez | Banco Santander, S.A. | Chief Executive Officer | Spain |
| 130 | Leon Topalian | Nucor | Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 131 | Calvin Butler | Exelon Corporation | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 132 | Roger W. Crandall | Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company | Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 133 | Noel Paul Quinn | HSBC | Group Chief Executive Officer | United Kingdom |
| 134 | Kathy J. Warden | Northrop Grumman | Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 135 | Mike Roman | 3M | Chairman And Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 136 | S. N. Subrahmanyan | Larsen & Toubro Ltd | Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director | India |
| 137 | Bruce Flatt | Brookfield Asset Management | Chief Executive Officer | Canada |
| 138 | Roland Busch | Siemens AG | President and Chief Executive Officer | Germany |
| 139 | Severin Schwan | Roche Holding AG | Chief Executive Officer | Switzerland |
| 140 | Rajesh Gopinathan | Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) | Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director | India |
| 141 | Alan D. Schnitzer | Travelers | Chairman And Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 142 | Sean J. Kerins | Arrow Electronics, Inc. | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 143 | Baoan Xin | State Grid Corporation of China | Chairman | China |
| 144 | Aditya Mittal | ArcelorMittal | Chief Executive Officer | Luxembourg |
| 145 | Jean Paul Prates | Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. | Chief Executive Officer | Brazil |
| 146 | Qijun Hou | China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) | Chairman | China |
| 147 | T. V. Narendran | Tata Steel Limited | Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director | India |
| 148 | Darius Adamczyk | Honeywell | Chairman And Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 149 | Cristiano Amon | Qualcomm Incorporated | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 150 | Richard Fairbank | Capital One Financial Corporation | Chairman And Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 151 | Richard T. Hume | TD Synnex Corp | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 152 | Salil Parekh | Infosys | Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director | India |
| 153 | Ma Yongsheng | Sinopec Group | Chairman | China |
| 154 | Werner Baumann | Bayer AG | Chief Executive Officer | Germany |
| 155 | Guillaume Faury | Airbus SE | Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors | Netherlands |
| 156 | Mario Greco | Zurich Insurance Group Ltd | Group Chief Executive Officer and member of the Executive Committee | Switzerland |
| 157 | Sajjan Jindal | JSW Group | Chairman And Managing Director | India |
| 158 | Ed Bastian | Delta Air Lines | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 159 | Rainer M. Blair | Danaher Corporation | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 160 | Zheng Xuexuan | China State Construction Engineering Group | Chairman | China |
| 161 | David A. Ricks | Eli Lilly and Company | Chair and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 162 | Antonio Neri | Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 163 | Sunil Duggal | Vedanta | Group Chief Executive Officer | India |
| 164 | Bob Sulentic | CBRE Group, Inc. | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 165 | Sanjay Mehrotra | Micron Technology | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 166 | Tian Guoli | China Construction Bank (CCB) | Chairman and Executive Director | China |
| 167 | Hock E. Tan | Broadcom Inc. | President, Chief Executive Officer and Director | United States |
| 168 | Satish Pai | Hindalco Industries | Managing Director | India |
| 169 | Mauricio Gutierrez | NRG Energy | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 170 | Jensen Huang | Nvidia Corporation | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 171 | Robert M. Bakish | Paramount Global | President and Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 172 | Gopal Vittal | Bharti Airtel | Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director | India |
| 173 | Dr. C. C. Wei | TSMC - Taiwan Semiconductor | Chief Executive Officer | Taiwan |
| 174 | Robert Isom | American Airlines Group | Chief Executive Officer | United States |
| 175 | Ning Gaoning | Sinochem Group | Chairman of the Board | China |
| 176 | Vasant (Vas) Narasimhan, M.D. | Novartis | Chief Executive Officer | Switzerland |
| 177 | Michel Doukeris | Anheuser-Busch InBev | Chief Executive Officer | Belgium |
| 178 | C Vijayakumar | HCL Technologies | Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director | India |
| 179 | Syh-Jang Liao | Pegatron Corporation | President and Chief Executive Officer | Taiwan |
| 180 | Martin Lundstedt | Volvo Group | President and Chief Executive Officer | Sweden |
| 181 | Bai Tao | China Life Insurance Company | Chairman | China |
| 182 | Josu Jon Imaz San Miguel | Repsol S.A. | Chief Executive Officer | Spain |
| 183 | Thierry Delaporte | Wipro Limited | #REF! | India |
| 184 | Julie Sweet | Accenture plc | Chair and Chief Executive Officer | Ireland |
| 185 | Lard Friese | Aegon N.V. | CEO and Chairman of the Executive and Management Board | Netherlands |
| 186 | Dr. Anish Shah | Mahindra Group | #REF! | India |
| 187 | Nicke Widyawati | PT Pertamina (Persero) | Chief Executive Officer (President Director) | Indonesia |
| 188 | Tengku Muhammad Taufik | Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) | President and Group Chief Executive Officer | Malaysia |
| 189 | Mathias Miedreich | Umicore N.V. | Chief Executive Officer | Belgium |
| 190 | Alfred Stern | OMV | Chief Executive Officer | Austria |
| 191 | Mike Henry | BHP Group | Chief Executive Officer | Australia |
| 192 | Gilberto Tomazoni | JBS S.A | Global Chief Executive Officer | Brazil |
| 193 | Amanda Blanc | Aviva plc | Group Chief Executive Officer | United Kingdom |
| 194 | Luca De Meo | Renault Group | Chief Executive Officer | France |
| 195 | Vincent Clerc | A.P. Moller – Maersk | Chief Executive Officer | Denmark |
| 196 | R. Jeffrey Orr | Power Corporation of Canada | President and Chief Executive Officer | Canada |
| 197 | Eduardo Bartolomeo | Vale SA | Global Chief Executive Officer | Brazil |
| 198 | Jakob Stausholm | Rio Tinto Group | Chief Executive Officer | United Kingdom |
| 199 | Brad Banducci | Woolworths Food Group | Chief Executive Officer | Australia |
| 200 | Auttapol Rerkpiboon | PTT | President and Chief Executive Officer | Thailand |
Methodology (The CEO Leaderboard): CEOWORLD magazine’s global ranking of the best chief executives for 2023 measured more than 1,200 CEOs across 96 countries. Taking a long view of business performance, the methodology is primarily based on the financial returns for the CEO’s entire tenure, which makes up 60 percent of the final ranking, as opposed to stock price and the current quarter’s numbers.
To calculate the final position, the additional 40 percent of a CEO’s ranking factors in a company’s track record on environmental, governance, and social issues, as well as market shares, change of market capitalization, and brand’s newsworthiness and impact.
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