Nearly one third of the 100 most powerful people in business from around the world have an Master of Business Administration (MBA) to their name, reinforcing the continued value of the qualification more than 100 years after it was first taught.
Fortune’s inaugural 100 Most Powerful People in Business features some of the world’s most recognisable business leaders, with SpaceX founder, Tesla CEO and US presdient Donald Trump’s new best friend, Elon Musk at the top of the list.
Representing 40 industries spanning the world, Fortune says the list is a definitive list of world’s most influential leaders that are shaping the global business landscape. The list includes 70 U.S.-based companies, 15 from Asia regions, 14 in Europe, and one from the Middle East. Eighteen of the list’s CEOs and leaders are female.
Alyson Shontell, Fortune Editor in Chief and Chief Content Officer, said, “The Fortune 100 Most Powerful People list is the authoritative ranking of corporate power as it exists today. It includes global industry giants, mavericks, and disruptors who are reshaping entire sectors and broader society with their outsized leadership, wealth, innovation and influence.”
The list is headed by:
- Elon Musk, CEO and Founder, Tesla and SpaceX
- Jensen Huang, CEO and Founder, Nvidia
- Satya Nadella, CEO and Chairman, Microsoft
- Warren Buffett, CEO and Chairman, Berkshire Hathaway
- Jamie Dimon, CEO and Chairman, JPMorgan Chase
- Tim Cook, CEO, Apple
- Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Chairman and Founder, Meta
- Sam Altman, CEO and Cofounder, OpenAI
- Mary Barra, CEO and Chairman, General Motors
- Sundar Pichai, CEO, Alphabet
Among the 105 names (some listings are dual listings including a brother and sister) are 32 MBA graduates, including third-ranked Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, a 1997 graduate of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
The second-highest ranked MBA grad, JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, who reached 5th in the Fortune ranking, edging out Fuqua alum Tim Cook, who took the reins from Steve Jobs as Apple CEO in 2011.
Stanford GSB’s Mary Barra and the Wharton School’s Sundar Pichai, the heads of General Motors and Alphabet, respectively, also cracked the overall Top 10 at 9th and 10th.
Overall, eight members of Fortune’s Top 25 hold MBAs, including Citigroup’s Jane Fraser (Harvard Business School), Walmart’s Doug McMillon (University of Tulsa) and Starbucks’ Brian Niccol (University of Chicago’s Booth School). Amazon’s Andy Jassy, who earned his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1997 alongside Nadella, finished 26th.
Harvard Business School produced the highest number of leaders in the Fortune ranking with nine graduates. The Stanford Graduate School of Business was the runner-up with five graduates while three Wharton MBA alumni made the list, along with two representatives each from the University of Chicago’s Booth School and Duke University’s Fuqua School.
The 100 Most Powerful People in Business list also features several graduates of undergraduate business programs. They include Marc Benioff (USC Marshall), Mark Cuban (Indiana Kelley), George Kurtz (Seton Hall Stillman), Jonathan Gray (Wharton School), Nicolas Hieronimus (ESSEC Business School), and Gregory Abel (University of Alberta).
Warren Buffet – the Oracle of Omaha – earned his bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Nebraska. While Oracle’s Safra Catz earned a BA at Wharton, she pivoted to the dark side and collected a JD from Penn Law.
Indeed, the Fortune list includes power brokers who earned undergraduate degrees in areas like Engineering, Chemistry, History, Economics and even Agriculture. In some cases, their majors resembled little of what they would do later in life.
