Apple’s co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs was named the World’s Best Performing CEO in the January-February 2010 edition of the Harvard Business Review.
It may come as no shock that Steve Jobs of Apple tops the list. However, our ranking does contain a few surprises. You’ll see some relatively unknown faces at the top. The inverse is also true: Some obvious candidates in terms of reputation don’t make the top 50.
Surprise? Bill Gates is not on the list (among other notable and successful CEOs), but there’s a reason.
To be included, a CEO had to have assumed the job no earlier than January 1995 and no later than December 2007. (See the sidebar “How the Ranking Was Created.”) That’s one reason why you won’t find CEOs such as Jack Welch, Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison, and Bill Gates here. They all took the helm before 1995…
The real surprise? More than twice as many of the top 50 CEOs did not have an MBA degree; 36 vs. 14, as those who did, including Steve Jobs.
Do you need an MBA to succeed in business? It might get you in the door, and might give you a leg up, but the math is inescapable (at least among the top 50 according to Harvard Business Review). An MBA is not a sign of business success.