The routes to the top
Which professional backgrounds lead to the CEO’s office?
A historical comparison of 674 CEOs across 13 markets reveals some interesting differences:
🇬🇧 UK and 🇵🇹 Portugal: finance backgrounds accounted for 35% of CEOs.
🇳🇱 Netherlands: sales and marketing led at 28%, ahead of finance at 20%.
🇫🇷 France: general management led at 23%, versus 16% for finance.
🇳🇴 Norway: legal backgrounds accounted for 12%, the highest share in this sample.
Finance was the largest—or joint-largest—category in 11 of the 13 markets. But it was far from the only route to the top.
These are functional-background classifications, not university degrees or evidence that a particular profession makes a better CEO.
Historical snapshot: Heidrick & Struggles’ 2018 study of selected large-company CEOs. Industry composition differs across markets. Selected categories are displayed; strategy is not equivalent to consulting.
Source: Heidrick & Struggles, Route to the Top 2018, Figure 10.
Which background do you think best prepares someone to lead a business—and why?