Here are the youngest CEOs on the Fortune 500 (2024)

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Here are the youngest CEOs on the Fortune 500? ›

Zuckerberg is the youngest Fortune

Nolan Archibald became the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company (Black & Decker) and held that position for 24 years. Clayton Christensen recounts in his book “How Will You Measure Your Life”, an exchange Nolan had with students. Early on, he had ambitions to become a CEO.

Meet Fortune 500's most senior CEOs

While the average age of a Fortune 500 CEO is 57, several of the companies on the list are led by people ranging from 71 to 91. That might be extraordinary in some ways, but studies show that working longer could be the new norm.

Zuckerberg is the youngest Fortune 500 CEO. The story of how he developed “The Facebook” in his dorm as a 19-year-old Harvard student is pop culture lore, and was dramatized in a 2011 Aaron Sorkin film, “The Social Network.” Facebook's IPO in 2008 made Zuckerberg, at 23, the youngest self-made billionaire in history.

Gymshark founder and CEO Ben Francis has been named one of the Worlds Youngest Billionaire. As of 10 March 2023, the 30-year-old has a net worth of $1.2 billion (£960 million), according to Forbes.

At a time when children are busy struggling with their school assignments, this 15-year-old entrepreneur from USA is making money in his school bathroom! Eric Zhu, co-founder, and CEO of Aviato, a platform to ease startup funding, skilfully manages his classes and business deals simultaneously at school.

'" she shared. And a few months later, at 33, Radhika Gupta became one of the youngest CEOs in India.

Neha Narkhede, co-Founder of Confluent, a streaming data technology company, now figures in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2022 as the youngest self-made woman entrepreneur.

The average salary of a Fortune 500 CEO is $15.9 million per year. The highest-paid Fortune 500 CEO is Elon Musk. In 2021, Musk saw compensation worth around $23.5 billion.

Economics, business administration, and engineering are the most popular subjects studied by top CEOs. On average, 34.6% of top CEOs have a master's or doctorate degree and. 22.3% of top CEOs have a Master of Business Administration (MBA), 16.4% of top CEOs studied abroad; and.

What is the average age of a new CEO? ›

The age of newly appointed CEOs, already creeping up for the past five years, peaked in 2021 at 56 with as many as one in six over 60, according to a new report from executive search firm Spencer Stuart.

According to research from Duke University, the Kauffman Foundation, the Founder Institute, and Northwestern, the average private-sector entrepreneur is actually 40 years old when launching his or her first startup. More interestingly, in the fastest-growing new ventures, the mean founder age is 45.

The current youngest CEO in the Equilar 500 is Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at 35 years old. W. Erik Carlson, 38, of DISH Network is the only other CEO under 40 in the Equilar 500. Next in line are David Smith, 42, of Sonic Automotive and Matt Maddox, 43, of Wynn Resorts.

This trend came to an end in 2022; the average age of newly appointed CEOs fell notably last year (Exhibit 1) to 53.8, down from 55.9 in 2021. This is the largest year-over-year drop we have seen in the S&P 500 since 2000. Nearly 30 percent (16 out of 56) of appointed CEOs were under the age of 50.

Ashwin Sardana: Youngest Entrepreneur & Business Tycoon in India.

For instance, while Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook Inc. (FB) is the youngest CEO in the S&P 500, the second-youngest CEO in the index is 39 year-old Conor Flynn of Kimco Realty Corp. (KIM). Flynn and Zuckerberg are the only two CEOs in the S&P 500 under 40.

Lily Frilly Founder Gains Walmart Distribution as Youngest Black CEO – WWD.

When we looked at family size, we found that CEOs had 2.5 children, on average—a bit higher than the U.S. standard—and that 48.5% of all those kids were girls, which corresponds to the gender ratio in the general population.

Meet Hillary Yip – World's Youngest CEO Who Launched Her Startup Just At The Age Of 10.

Sarvesh Shashi — Age 25

All of 25 years of age, Sarvesh Shashi is the youngest CEO in the yoga and wellness fraternity.

Who is the oldest CEO still working? ›

Leslie Wexner, L Brands (age 80)

Wexner has been in charge of Victoria's Secret parent company L Brands for more than 54 years, making him the longest-serving chief in the Fortune 500.

Warren Buffett has been described as the greatest investor of all time, and, at the age of 87, is currently the oldest CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

1. Elizabeth Holmes rose to the Silicon Valley fame after founding Theranos in 2003 at age 19.

Meet Neha Narkhede, youngest self-made woman entrepreneur in India's rich list.

Larry Ellison (Oracle Corporation)

The most overpaid, in their analysis, was Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD) chief David M. Zaslav, who was paid nearly a quarter billion dollars in 2022 only to deliver a five-year annualized total shareholder return of -11.6%.

Many CEOs like Elon Musk & Mark Zuckerberg take 1 dollar salaries to maximize the profits of the company and avoid paying huge taxes to the government.

Undergraduate and graduate degrees are common for some of the world's top CEOs. Many CEOs earn an MBA, which hones their business acumen while helping build a foundation of management and leadership skills.

Harvard University boasts the most alumni who are now a Fortune 500 CEO, with 41 having attended Harvard for their undergraduate or graduate degrees. Thirty-five of the CEOs earned a graduate degree at Harvard University and 9 of the CEOs went there for their undergrad, some of which attended Harvard for both.

What degree does Elon Musk have? ›

Musk attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and in 1992 he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where he received bachelor's degrees in physics and economics in 1997.

Research from the Corporate Executive Board (CEB) estimates that 50% to 70% of executives fail within 18 months of taking on a role, regardless of whether they were an external hire or promoted from within.

Consulting firm Spencer Stuart reports on CEO transitions among S&P 500 companies. In 2021, the average age of a departing CEO was 64; in 2020, it was 61. “The big trend is there are people … in the C-suite who want to continue working.

When analyzed in the aggregate, the average age for a C-suite member is 56 and the average tenure is 4.9 years. However, the numbers vary depending on title and industry. The average age for a CEO across industries is 59.

Business development is far and away the most common first job function. It's about twice as common as sales, the second-most common function, which is followed quickly by engineering. Business development jobs require a strong mix of sales, strategy, and communication skills—all crucial to the role of CEO.

Becoming a CEO can be a challenging and competitive process, but if you take a focused approach, get a quality education, and accumulate extensive experience, you can position yourself on the inside track to business leadership.

Austin Russell, the 28-year-old CEO of California-based Luminar Technologies, remains the world's youngest self-made billionaire, with a net worth of US$1.

On average, CEOs work 39 hours per work week.

During this time, they conduct meetings, spend time with employees, with clients, and do many other different tasks.

How long do CEOs last? ›

The average tenure of an executive is 4.9 years. Although, this can vary across different industries and across the different executive positions.

The most common undergraduate degree of Fortune 500 CEOs is in Engineering, where 96 individuals with engineering degrees have gone on to become CEOs.

Currently, Akhilendra Sahu is known as the “World's Youngest Serial Entrepreneur.”

Who is the youngest self-made billionaire? Alexandr Wang is the youngest self-made billionaire as of November 2022, according to Forbes. At the age of 25, Wang is estimated to have a net worth of $1 billion.

A child can absolutely run their own business, and they can do so legally and successfully, too. In some scenarios, an adult might be necessary to sign business contracts or other types of paperwork. But other than that, any minor with an entrepreneurial spirit can take the reins of their own business.

Around 90% of CEOs believe a recession is coming.

The odds of becoming a CEO are 1 in 135,000. These odds are very large, but doing what we have talked about will bring these odds to a much smaller percentage. One of the best things that can lower the odds is getting a job at McKinsey Consultant, which is 1 in 690.

We have seen firsthand that an Ivy-draped diploma doesn't guarantee someone will be good at the job, but even so, we were surprised to uncover that 8% of CEOs in our sample did not complete college at all.

Zuckerberg took the company public in May 2012 with majority shares. In 2007, at age 23, he became the world's youngest self-made billionaire. He has used his funds to organize multiple philanthropic endeavors, including the establishment of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

At 26 years old, Alex Rodrigues is the youngest CEO of a public company after his autonomous trucking company Embark IPOed earlier this week. A lex Rodrigues always wanted to be an inventor.

What's the average age of a CEO? ›

The average age for a CEO across industries is 59. CEOs are the oldest on average of any other C-suite role. The financial services industry has the oldest average CEO age at 60, and the technology and energy sectors have the youngest CEOs at an average age of 57.

According to research from Duke University, the Kauffman Foundation, the Founder Institute, and Northwestern, the average private-sector entrepreneur is actually 40 years old when launching his or her first startup. More interestingly, in the fastest-growing new ventures, the mean founder age is 45.

At 15, Valentina Pinault is the richest teen on this list if not the world -- although her net worth is based on her parents' net worth. Not only is she the daughter of actress Salma Hayek, but her dad is Francois-Henri Pinault -- a literal billionaire.

But old age is not a requirement for amassing great wealth. In fact, there are 15 people around the globe who boast a three-comma fortune despite being 30 years old or younger. The youngest of this mostly lucky bunch are Clemente Del Vecchio and Kim Jung-youn, neither of whom have hit their 20s yet.

Austin Russell, the 28-year-old CEO of California-based Luminar Technologies, remains the world's youngest self-made billionaire, with a net worth of US$1.

Herd was named as one of 2017's and 2018's Forbes 30 Under 30, and, in 2018, she was named in the Time 100 List. In February 2021, Herd became the world's youngest, female, self-made billionaire when she took Bumble public. She is the youngest woman to have taken a company public in the United States, at age 31.

The final phase, typically five years in, is where the change and growth resulting from your ideas begins to flatten out. That helps explain why the average tenure of a CEO caps at that time frame. The excitement of those early days is gone, and you just don't have as many new ideas for change as you used to.

Consulting firm Spencer Stuart reports on CEO transitions among S&P 500 companies. In 2021, the average age of a departing CEO was 64; in 2020, it was 61. “The big trend is there are people … in the C-suite who want to continue working.

Becoming a CEO can be a challenging and competitive process, but if you take a focused approach, get a quality education, and accumulate extensive experience, you can position yourself on the inside track to business leadership.

Using confidential administrative data sets from the U.S. Census Bureau, the team of HBR researchers found that the average age of entrepreneurs at the time of their company's founding is 42.

What is the best age to start a business? ›

No one ever said that you can't be a successful entrepreneur at age 22 or 62. There are many. But research definitely points to the fact that education, experience, opportunity, network, and funding all come together in the mid-30s and position a founder to have the best chance of success.