There’s no doubt that an MBA degree is the key to getting many CEOs to the top of the corporate world. Approximately 1/3 of Fortune 500 companies have CEOs who hold an MBA. While Harvard School of Business produces the largest number of graduates who serve as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, an almost equal number of these CEOs earned an MBA at a virtually unknown school.
Here are 101 CEOs who run massive companies with the help of their MBA education.
Carlos Brito, CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev
Brito earned an MBA from Stanford University and works at the company’s headquarters in Belgium.
Laurence Fink, CEO of Blackrock
Fink earned his MBA from Anderson School of Management at the University of California — Los Angeles.
Jaime Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase
Dimon earned an MBA at the Harvard Business School at Harvard University.
Francois-Henri Pinault, CEO of Kering
Pinault earned an MBA from HEC in France.
Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe Systems
Narayen earned an MBA at Berkeley Haas.
Nancy McKinstry, CEO of Wolters Kluwer in The Netherlands
McKinstry earned an MBA from Columbia University.
Brad Smith, CEO of Intuit
Smith earned an MBA at Aquinas.
Hamid Moghadam, CEO of Prologis
Moghadam earned an MBA at Stanford University.
Mark Bertolini, CEO of Aetna
Bertolini earned an MBA from Cornell Johnson.
Paul Desmarais Jr., CEO of Power Corporation of Canada
Desmarais earned an MBA from INSEAD in France.
Luis Maroto, CEO of Amadeus IT in Spain
Maroto earned an MBA at IESE.
Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler in Italy
Marchionne earned an MBA at the University of Windsor in Canada.
Ajay Banga, CEO of Mastercard
Banga earned an MBA from the Indian Inst of Management Ahmedabad.
Erik Engstrom, CEO of Relx in London
Engstrom earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Gregory Case, CEO of AON
Case earned an MBA at Harvard Business School in London.
Hongchoy “George” Kwok Lung, CEO of Link Reit in Hong Kong
Lung earned an MBA at Wharton School of Business.
Lars Rasmussen, CEO of Coloplast in Denmark
Rasmussen earned an MBA from the Scandanavian International Management Institute.
Richard Fairbank, CEO of Capital One Financial Corp.
Fairbank earned an MBA from Stanford University.
Mike Lawrie, CEO of DXC Technology
Lawrie graduated from Drexel University with an MBA.
Ignacio Galán, CEO of Iberdroa in Spain
Galán earned an MBA at ICADE in Spain.
David Simon, CEO of Simon Property
Simon earned an MBA at Columbia University.
Hock Tan, CEO of Broadcom
Tan graduated from Harvard Business School with an MBA.
Michael Mahoney, CEO of Boston Scientific
Mahoney earned an MBA at Wake Forest University.
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
Nadella earned an MBA at University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
Bruce Broussard, CEO of Humana
Broussard earned an MBA at the C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston.
David Cordani, CEO of Cigna
Cordani earned an MBA at the Barney School of Business at University of Hartford.
Gregory Goff, CEO of Andeavor
Goff earned an MBA at the University of Utah.
Marc Casper, CEO of Thermo Fisher Scientific
Casper earned an MBA at Harvard Business School.
Gary Dickerson, CEO of Applied Materials
Dickerson earned an MBA at the University of Missouri Kansas City.
Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of Intercontinental Exchange
Sprecher earned an MBA at Pepperdine University.
Steve Angel, CEO of Praxair Technology
Angel graduated with an MBA from Loyola Maryland.
Paul Varga, CEO of Brown-Forman
Varga earned an MBA from Purdue University.
Stephen Squeri, CEO of American Express Co.
Squeri earned an MBA from Manhattan College’s O’Malley School of Business.
Ramon Laguarta, CEO of PepsiCo Inc.
Laguarta earned an MBA at ESADE Business School in Spain.
H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., CEO of General Electric Co.
Culp earned an MBA at Harvard Business School.
Charles F. Lowrey, CEO of Prudential Financial Inc.
Lowrey earned an MBA at Harvard Business School.
Darius Adamczyk, CEO of Honeywell International Inc.
Adamczyk earned an MBA at Harvard Business School.
Alex Gorsky, CEO of Johnson & Johnson
Gorsky earned an MBA from Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Roger W. Crandall, CEO of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance
Crandall earned an MBA from Wharton School of Business.
Phebe N. Novakovic, CEO of General Dynamics Corp.
Novakovic earned an MBA from Wharton School of Business.
Michel A. Khalaf, CEO of MetLife Inc.
Khalaf earned an MBA from Syracuse University Whitman School of Management.
Bob Swan, CEO of Intel Corp.
Swan earned an MBA at Binghamton University — SUNY School of Management in New York.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc.
Cook earned an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
Marvin Ellison, CEO of Lowe’s Cos.
Ellison earned an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.
W. Douglas Parker, CEO of American Airlines Group Inc.
Parker earned an MBA from Vanderbilt University (Owen).
Gary R. Heminger, CEO of Marathon Petroleum Corp.
Heminger earned an MBA at the University of Dayton.
Vivek Sankaran, CEO of Albertsons Companies Inc.
Sankaran earned an MBA at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan — Ann Arbor.
Jay Debertin, CEO of CHS Inc.
Debertin graduated from the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin — Madison.
Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart Inc.
McMillon earned an MBA from the University of Tulsa (Collins)
Noel White, CEO of Tyson Foods Inc.
White earned an MBA from Meinders School of Business at Oklahoma City University.
Bruce D. Broussard, CEO of Humana Inc.
Broussard earned an MBA at the University of Houston (Bauer).
Joseph Gorder, CEO of Valero Energy Corp.
Gorder graduated from Our Lady of the Lake University in Texas with an MBA.
Samuel N. Hazen, CEO of HCA Healthcare Inc.
Hazen earned an MBA at the Lee Business School at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas.
Oscar Munoz, CEO of United Continental Holdings Inc.
Munoz earned an MBA from Pepperdine University (Graziadio).
Mary T. Barra, CEO of General Motors Co.
Barra graduated from Stanford University with an MBA.
Richard C. Adkerson, CEO of Freeport-McMoRan Inc.
Adkerson got his MBA at Mississippi State University College of Business.
Marc Bitzer, CEO of Whirlpool Corp.
Bitzer earned an MBA at St. Gallen Graduate School of Business, Economics and Law in Switzerland.
Gail Boudreaux, CEO of Anthem Inc.
Boudreaux earned her MBA at Columbia Business School.
David B. Burritt, CEO of United States Steel Corp.
Burritt earned his MBA degree at the University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign College of Business.
André Calantzopoulos, CEO of Philip Morris International
Calantzopoulos earned his MBA degree at INSEAD Business School in France.
Andrew Cecere, CEO of U.S. Bancorp
Cecere earned an MBA at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities.
Gary Dickerson, CEO of Applied Materials Inc.
Dickerson earned his MBA at the Henry W. Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri — Kansas City.
Michelle Gass, CEO of Kohl’s Corp.
Gass earned an MBA at the Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington.
Dennis R. Glass, CEO of Lincoln Financial Group
Glass graduated with an MBA from the Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business at the University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee.
Roger C. Hochschild, CEO of Discover Financial Services
Hochschild earned his MBA degree at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
Margaret Keane, CEO of Synchrony Financial
Keane earned her MBA degree at Peter J. Tobin College of Business at St. John’s University in New York.
Alfred F. Kelly Jr., CEO of Visa Inc.
Kelly earned his MBA degree at LaPenta School of Business at Iona College in New York.
Scott E. McPherson, CEO of Core-Mark Holding Co. Inc.
McPherson earned an MBA at the Dr. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. School of Business Administration at the University of Portland.
Jeff Miller, CEO of Halliburton Co.
Miller earned his MBA degree at Mays Business School at Texas A&M University—College Station.
Gary M. Philbin, CEO of Dollar Tree Inc.
Philbin earned his MBA degree at Williams College of Business at Xavier University in Cincinnati.
David A. Ricks, CEO of Eli Lilly and Co.
Ricks earned his MBA degree at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
Ronald A. Rittenmeyer, CEO of Tenet Healthcare Corp.
Rittenmeyer earned his MBA degree at the Helzberg School of Management at Rockhurst University in Missouri.
Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal Holdings Inc.
Schulman earned his MBA degree at the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.
Ray Scott, CEO of Lear Corp.
Scott earned his MBA degree at the Eli Broad Graduate School of Management at Michigan State University.
Steven C. Voorhees, CEO of WestRock Co.
Voorhees earned his MBA degree at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
Michel Vounatsos, CEO of Biogen Inc.
Vounatsos earned his MBA degree at HEC Paris.
77 Kathy J. Warden, CEO and president of Northrop Grumman Corp.
Warden earned her MBA degree at the George Washington University School of Business in Washington, D.C.
Darren W. Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil Corp.
Woods earned his MBA at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Illinois.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet
Pichai earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric
Immelt earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Robert Bradway, CEO of Amgen
Bradway earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Vittorio Colao, CEO of Vodafone Group
Colao earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Victor Dodig, CEO of CIBC in Canada
Dodig earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Mark Fields, CEO of Ford Motor Co.
Fields earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Darren Huston, CEO of Priceline Group
Huston earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Steven Kandarian, CEO of MetLife
Kandarian earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Adam Kwok, CEO of Sun Hung Kai Properties in Hong Kong
Kwok earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
David Nelms, CEO of Discover Financial Services
Nelms earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
James Robo, CEO of Nextera Energy
Robo earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Carlos Rodriguez, CEO of Automatic Data Processing
Rodriguez earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Ulf Mark Schneider, CEO of Fresenius in Germany
Schneider earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP in the UK
Sorrell earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Michael Ward, CEO of CSX
Ward earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Wendell Weeks, CEO of Corning
Weeks earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
George Weston, CEO of Associated British Foods in the UK
Weston earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Meg Whitman, CEO of Hewlett-Packard
Whitman earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Jeffrey Bewkes, CEO of Time Warner
Bewkes earned an MBA from Stanford University.
Tom Linebarger, CEO of Cummins
Linebarger earned an MBA from Stanford University.
Ken Powell, CEO of General Mills
Powell earned an MBA from Stanford University.
Miles White, CEO pf Abbott Laboratories
White earned an MBA from Stanford University.
Vincent Forlenza, CEO of Becton Dickinson
Forlenza earned an MBA at Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.