2018 List: Most CEO College Alumni in the Fortune 500
As many of us probably wish of lounging in our corner office, envisioning a multi-million (or even billion) dollar salary, these top CEOs turned their dreams into reality.
According to sources over at Fortune and their list of Fortune 500 companies, the CEOs of the top 10 – and top 100 – companies graduated from a wide selection of colleges. Whether they went to a large public institution or a small private college, these business leaders made the most out of their education to shape the rest of their professional career.
“For instance,” USNews started, “Darren W. Woods, chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp. – No. 2 on the Fortune list – earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University—College Station, according to the Exxon Mobil website.”
Texas A&M enrolled over 65,000 students in fall 2016 and grew to over 68,000 the following year. Other CEOs, USNews reported, like John L. Flannery Jr. – CEO of General Electric – went to a smaller school.
Flannery – No. 18 on the Fortune 500 list – earned a finance degree at Fairfield University in Connecticut. Fairfield enrolled over 5,000 students in fall 2016, which remained pretty steady up until the next year.
The table indicates “schools that were attended by at least two of the CEOs of the top 100 companies,” USNews said.
The list does not account for CEOs who attended a school but did not graduate, such as Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook CEO – who dropped out of Harvard, USNews noted. Check out the list below:
Cornell, the most popular ivy league school in the list, reaches the top with four CEO graduates out of Fortune’s top 100 companies.
Some of these CEOs did not stop a bachelors degree; they went on to pursue graduate and doctorate degrees later on. Even higher education is oftentimes required to become a top leader in the business world.
“For example, Roger W. Ferguson Jr., president and CEO of financial services organization Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, or TIAA – No. 84 on the Fortune list – earned a bachelor’s degree, law degree and doctorate from Harvard University, according to the TIAA website,” USNews reported.
Be sure to take a look at the complete list of the Fortune 500 and other relevant company information it provides.
