Chief Executive Officer
Route to the Top 2025: Explore global CEO backgrounds and trends
About the research
This year’s Route to the Top draws on an analysis of the profiles of the 1,232 CEOs at the largest companies in 27 markets. The data reflects the CEOs as of February 1, 2025. The date of analysis was March 1, 2025.
Australia and New Zealand (ASX 100 & NZSX 10), Belgium (BEL 20), Brazil (BOVESPA), Canada (TSX 60), Colombia (COLCAP), Denmark (OMX Copenhagen 25), Finland (OMX Helsinki 25), France (CAC 40), Germany (DAX & MDAX), Hong Kong (Hang Seng), Ireland (ISEQ Overall), Italy (FTSE MIB), Kenya (NSE Top 40), Mexico (BMV), the Netherlands (AEX), Norway (OBX), Poland (WIG 20), Portugal (PSI 20), Saudi Arabia (Tadawul), Singapore (STI 30), South Africa (JSE Top 40), Spain (IBEX 35), Sweden (OMX Stockholm 30), Switzerland (SMI Expanded), the United Arab Emirates (ADX & DFM), the United Kingdom (FTSE 100), and the United States (Fortune 100) are included in this report.
Fifty-seven percent of CEOs and board members have relatively little confidence that their CEO succession planning process is positioning their organization well for the future, according to a recent Heidrick & Struggles survey.1
The good news is that many boards—and particularly those at companies traded on public markets—are increasing their investment in CEO succession planning. Through our work, we have identified a few steps leading boards are taking to improve their succession planning for themselves and for CEOs, including making planning a continuous, transparent process linked to long-term strategy. (For more, see “CEO and board confidence monitor: Beating the succession planning paradox.”)
We know that boards are increasingly seeking CEOs with capabilities such as having a learning mindset, humility, and being able to lead across boundaries that divide people. (For more, see “Route to the Top | Today’s CEO: The growing importance of character, learning, and leading in a contested world.”)
We also know that those capabilities can be found in leaders with all kinds of backgrounds: Our Route to the Top research has over the past seven years explored trends in CEO appointees at public companies in the largest markets around the world—their prior functional experience, age, tenure, race or ethnicity, gender, and education, whether they are promoted from within their organization or hires from the outside, and more.
This year, a few notable data points stand out:
- Globally, the share of CEOs with advanced degrees has increased, from 58% in 2019 to 65% in 2025.
- We see some of the highest shares on diversity measures in Asia Pacific markets. Singapore and Australia/New Zealand have the highest share of women CEOs, at 17% and 16%, respectively.
- The United States and Canada have the highest share of CEOs with previous COO experience, at 42% each.
- We found that North American CEOs are the oldest, both at appointment and currently. This region has the lowest share of CEOs appointed before age 45, as well as those with longer average tenures.
- Europe has the highest share of CEOs with cross-border and cross-sector experience, while North America has the lowest.
We have compiled key data from each market into the interactive experience below, where you can view aggregated data by market and year across a range of measures, including education, appointment type, and prior C-suite experience.
1 “CEO and board confidence monitor: A worried start to 2024,” Heidrick & Struggles, January 17, 2024
Market data
Our market data on timelines includes the total number of sitting CEOs in each market, CEOs’ age at appointment, CEOs’ current age, the share of CEOs under age 45, the average number of years it took for CEOs to be appointed from the time they joined the company, and their average tenure in the role.
Use the drop-down menu located under the chart legend to navigate the data points.
Our diversity charts include data on the share of women in the CEO role by market, the share of CEOs who are of a different nationality than the market where their company is listed, the share of CEOs with experience physically working in a different geography than the market where they currently are CEO, and the share of CEOs with experience working in a different sector than the company where they currently are CEO.
Use the drop-down menu located under the chart legend to navigate the data points.
Our education chart shows the share of CEOs in each market with advanced degrees, bachelor’s degrees or the equivalent, and no degree.
Following is a chart that shows the share of CEOs in each market with an MBA.
Our appointment type chart shows the share of CEOs in each market who were appointed into the CEO role from another company, those who were promoted to the CEO role internally, and those who were a founder of the company of which they are CEO.
Our C-suite experience chart shows the share of CEOs who have prior C-suite experience, as well as the shares of each who have CEO, CFO, COO, and other C-suite experience.
Use the drop-down menu located under the chart legend to navigate the data points.
New appointments: by market
Our new appointments chart shows the share of CEOs newly appointed in each market, by the half year. These are shown globally as well as by region.
Use the drop-down menu located under the chart legend to navigate the data points.
Trend data
These charts compare the year-over-year information of all the CEOs included in our study.
Please note that the number of markets included in our report has increased over the years. In 2019, 16 markets were included; in 2020, 20 markets were included; in 2021, 24 markets were included; in 2022, 25 markets were included. Since 2023, there have been 27 markets included in our study.
Our trend data on timelines includes global trend data from 2019 to 2024 on CEOs’ age at appointment, CEOs’ current age, the share of CEOs under age 45, the average number of years it took for CEOs to be appointed from the time they joined the company, and their average tenure in the role.
Use the drop-down menu located under the chart legend to navigate the data points.
Our diversity charts includes global trend data from 2019 to 2024 on the share of women in the CEO role, the share of CEOs who are of a different nationality than the market where their company is listed, the share of CEOs with experience physically working in a different geography than the market where they currently are CEO, and the share of CEOs with experience working in a different sector than the company where they currently are CEO.
Use the drop-down menu located under the chart legend to navigate the data points.
Our education chart includes global trend data from 2019 to 2024 on the share of CEOs with advanced degrees, bachelor’s degrees or the equivalent, and no degree.
Following is a chart that shows the share of CEOs in each market with an MBA.
Our appointment type chart includes global trend data from 2019 to 2024 on the share of CEOs who were appointed into the CEO role from another company, those who were promoted to the CEO role internally, and those who were a founder of the company of which they are CEO.