High-flyers who can look down on the world’s top universities
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Muhtar Kent studied as an undergraduate at the University of Hull in the 1970s and later did an MBA at Cass Business School in London Michael Pugh/AP
1 of 3Muhtar Kent studied as an undergraduate at the University of Hull in the 1970s and later did an MBA at Cass Business School in London Michael Pugh/AP
The secret of how to get to the top of the world’s largest companies is, it seems, not to go to Harvard. Or to Yale, Oxford or Cambridge — at least, not for your first degree.
Most leaders of the world’s biggest businesses do not have a bachelor’s degree from one of the highest ranking universities, a new analysis shows.
Of the chief executives of the 500 largest corporations, only 25 were undergraduates at Harvard, 13 went to the University of Tokyo, 12 to École Polytechnique in Paris and 11 to Stanford. Oxford has 5 graduates among them and Cambridge 3.
Few, however, stopped at one degree. Many have a second or even third, often from more prestigious universities or business schools: 113 hold an MBA and 53 have a doctorate.
Typical of this trend is Muhtar Kent, the American-born boss of Coca-Cola, who studied as an undergraduate at the University of Hull in the 1970s and later did an MBA at Cass Business School in London.
Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple, took his first degree at Auburn University, Alabama and then an MBA at Duke, while António Horta-Osório, boss of Lloyds Bank, first went to Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Lisbon, and later completed an MBA from Insead business school in Paris.
Among British chief executives in the top 500 Stuart Gulliver of HSBC is one of the few Oxford graduates. Philip Clarke of Tesco went to the University of Liverpool, Andrew Mackenzie of BHP Billiton attended St Andrews, Ian Read of Pfizer was at Imperial and Nigel Wilson of Legal & General is a graduate of Essex.
Margaret Whitman, head of Hewlett-Packard, attended Princeton then Yale, Virginia Rometty of IBM was at Northwestern University, Patricia Woertz of Archer Daniels Midland went to Pennsylvania State University.
The analysis, compiled by Times Higher Education magazine, will reflect a lag-factor as the business leaders it features first attended university at least a generation ago. But experts said that where people studied became less important as they are judged by what they achieve in their career.
Mark Freebairn, a partner at the City head hunters Odgers Berndston, said: “I believe we are all now working in a more meritocratic world than we were.”
Stephen Isherwood, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters, which represents about 300 employers, said: “Getting a good degree from a good university does not mean you get a good job.”
He added: “Employers recruit academically but want other attributes as well. They want people who are bright, motivated, interested in the industry that they are going into and can demonstrate real passion.”
Most leaders of the world’s biggest businesses do not have a bachelor’s degree from one of the highest ranking universities, a new analysis shows.
Of the chief executives of the 500 largest corporations, only 25 were undergraduates at Harvard, 13 went to the University of Tokyo, 12 to École Polytechnique in Paris and 11 to Stanford. Oxford has 5 graduates among them and Cambridge 3.
Few, however, stopped at one degree. Many have a second or even third, often from more prestigious universities or business schools: 113 hold an MBA and 53 have a doctorate.
Typical of this trend is Muhtar Kent, the American-born boss of Coca-Cola, who studied as an undergraduate at the University of Hull in the 1970s and later did an MBA at Cass Business School in London.
Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple, took his first degree at Auburn University, Alabama and then an MBA at Duke, while António Horta-Osório, boss of Lloyds Bank, first went to Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Lisbon, and later completed an MBA from Insead business school in Paris.
Among British chief executives in the top 500 Stuart Gulliver of HSBC is one of the few Oxford graduates. Philip Clarke of Tesco went to the University of Liverpool, Andrew Mackenzie of BHP Billiton attended St Andrews, Ian Read of Pfizer was at Imperial and Nigel Wilson of Legal & General is a graduate of Essex.
Margaret Whitman, head of Hewlett-Packard, attended Princeton then Yale, Virginia Rometty of IBM was at Northwestern University, Patricia Woertz of Archer Daniels Midland went to Pennsylvania State University.
The analysis, compiled by Times Higher Education magazine, will reflect a lag-factor as the business leaders it features first attended university at least a generation ago. But experts said that where people studied became less important as they are judged by what they achieve in their career.
Mark Freebairn, a partner at the City head hunters Odgers Berndston, said: “I believe we are all now working in a more meritocratic world than we were.”
Stephen Isherwood, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters, which represents about 300 employers, said: “Getting a good degree from a good university does not mean you get a good job.”
He added: “Employers recruit academically but want other attributes as well. They want people who are bright, motivated, interested in the industry that they are going into and can demonstrate real passion.”
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