Top 100 CEO list: spanish Pablo Isla (Inditex) ranked first

7 years ago - Published in Finance, Fundamental Analysis

Harvard Business Review has released its annual list of the 100 best-performing CEOs and this year’s top performer is Pablo Isla, head of Spanish retailer Inditex, best known for its flagship fashion brand Zara.

“We think it’s important to recognize leaders who are delivering strong financial performance and creating sustainable businesses over the long term – not just quarter to quarter,” said HBR Editor in Chief Adi Ignatius.

Isla, who ranked third in last year’s list, has led Inditex on a global expansion since becoming CEO in 2005, increasing its market value sevenfold and making it Spain’s most valuable company. Today the company’s eight brands have 7,300 stores in 93 countries. The only other retailer to crack the top 25 was Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who dropped from #1 to #87 in 2015 when ESG ratings became a factor in the HBR ranking, is now in the #71 spot. On the purely financial metrics, he still leads all other CEOs.

Two of this year’s top three CEOs were among the top three leaders in 2016, and 16 of the top 25 were in the top quartile. Seventy-two of last year’s 100 leaders are repeats, and 23 are appearing for the fourth straight year. Of the 28 CEOs who fell off the list after last year, 11 retired from their companies. On average, these 100 CEOs generated a 2,507% return on stock (adjusted for exchange-rate effects) during a 17-year tenure, for a 21% average annual return.

Here are some ranking statistics from the 2017 list:
• Eight of the top 10 CEOs run European companies.
• 32 CEOs on the list have an engineering degree and 29 have an MBA.
• On average, they became CEO at age 44 and have been in office 17 years.
• For the second year in a row, Marillyn Hewson of Lockheed Martin and • Debra Cafaro of Ventas are the only women on the list reflecting the persistent underrepresentation of women at the top.