Best CEOs in the world: Harvard Business Review

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is 22nd best performing in the world.Brian Snyder/Reuters

While companies are defined by the work of their staff, they all need a figurehead and a leader to act as the face of the business, and to shape their corporate strategy. That’s where the CEO comes in.

The Harvard Business Review this week revealed its 2018 list of the best performing CEOs on the planet. For the second consecutive year, Pablo Isla, CEO of Inditex, the fashion giant behind brands like Zara, Massimo Dutti, and Pull and Bear took home the top spot.

The ranking is created by looking at three key financial variables: The change in market capitalisation a CEO has overseen, the country-adjusted total shareholder return, and the industry-adjusted total shareholder return.

HBR also measured what it calls ESG, or the environmental, social, and governance score. Some examples factored into ESG include how much hazardous waste a company produces (environmental) and company diversity (social).

These four variables are then combined to give a score that helps identify how well a company is performing, and as a result how the CEO is doing.

Men dominate the list, reflecting the pool from which it is taken — the S&P 1200 index of global companies. In 2018, three female CEOs made the top 100, up from two last year. One woman — aerospace giant Lockheed Martin’s Marillyn Hewson — fits in the top 34.

Check out the top third of the Harvard Business Review’s list below. The full ranking can be found on HBR’s website.