In a new study from free company formations agent Startup AZ, they dive in to understand what it takes to be a FTSE 100 CEO.
Looking into the profiles of FTSE CEOs, they found data on how much experience is needed, how many internal roles it takes and whether or not you’re rewarded for length of service.
Key findings:
- FTSE CEOs spend an average of 10 years in the company before promotion
- 8 of the FTSE 100 CEOs have worked at their companies their entire careers
- 29 CEOs were hired straight into the chief executive role
- 30 CEOs have spent just 5 years or under in their current companies
How much experience do you need to be a FTSE 100 CEO?
When looking through the LinkedIn profiles of FTSE 100 CEOs, they found that CEOs have an average of 31 years of experience.
Notably, 23 CEOs fall within the 31-35 year experience bracket. However, as with any average, there are some outliers. They found that two leaders have under 10 years of experience; George Weston of Associated British Foods stepped into the CEO position with 10 years of prior experience, while Frank van Zanten of Bunzl took the helm with just 9 years under his belt, proving that, in some cases, swift rises to the top do happen.
Data in table form:
|
Years of experience |
Number of CEOs |
|
0-5 |
0 |
|
6-10 |
2 |
|
11-15 |
4 |
|
16-20 |
1 |
|
21-25 |
14 |
|
26-30 |
15 |
|
31-35 |
23 |
|
36-40 |
10 |
|
41-45 |
7 |
|
46-50 |
2 |
How many roles does it take to become a CEO?
It’s a common thought that loyalty should be rewarded, especially in the corporate world. But does this hold true at the very top?
The data shows 29 out of the 100 current FTSE CEOs were appointed directly into the chief executive role, without having occupied any prior positions within that specific company.
This suggests that for nearly a third of the UK’s top firms, the search for leadership talent extends beyond internal candidates, often favouring external expertise and a fresh perspective.
|
Number of roles within the company |
No. of FTSE CEOs |
|
1 |
29 |
|
2 |
24 |
|
3 |
8 |
|
4 |
6 |
|
5 |
1 |
|
6 |
3 |
|
7 |
1 |
|
8 |
1 |
|
9 |
1 |
|
10 |
0 |
|
11 |
1 |
|
12-25 |
2 |
Are you rewarded for length of service?
Does a lengthy tenure genuinely lead to the top job, or is it more about rapid ascent?
The findings paint an interesting picture: a significant chunk of top executives are relatively new to their corner offices. 30 CEOs have been with their companies for five years or less. This suggests that reaching the pinnacle doesn’t necessarily require decades of loyal service, and in many cases, fresh perspectives and external experience are seen as valuable assets at the executive level.
|
Length of time at company (years) |
No. of FTSE CEOs |
|
0-5 |
30 |
|
6-10 |
24 |
|
11-15 |
8 |
|
16-20 |
5 |
|
21-25 |
1 |
|
26-30 |
4 |
|
31-35 |
4 |
|
36-40 |
2 |
|
41-45 |
0 |
|
46-50 |
0 |
You can view the full report here: https://www.suaz.co.uk/knowledge-base/becoming-a-ftse-ceo
Methodology
Using LinkedIn, the data was collected from FTSE 100 CEO profile pages. Where needed, years of service were rounded to the nearest whole year. The data was collected using all publicly available information – in some instances, some gaps may exist where certain details were unavailable due to inconsistencies, such as profiles not being updated. Any FTSE 100 CEOs without LinkedIn profiles were removed from specific data gathering.