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Why We’ve Stopped
Ranking CEOs
S TA RT I N G I N 2 0 14 , H B R published an annual list called the
Best-Performing CEOs in the World. The rankings, calculated
by measuring financial returns during each CEO’s entire
tenure and factoring in two assessments of each company’s
environmental, social, and governance practices, helped drive
discussion of how society should measure a business leader’s
performance. The list was routinely one of the year’s most-read
articles on [Link].
But each year the CEOs on our list were overwhelmingly male
and largely white, provoking criticism for a lack of diversity.
And each year we explained why this was the case: Most of the
S&P 1200 companies we analyzed were led by white male CEOs.
Now, in the midst of a heightened global discourse on racial
and gender equity, we have decided to break the cycle. Rather
than publish a list that might be seen as celebrating the status
quo, we will discontinue the ranking. It’s a small step, but we
hope it is a meaningful one.
Instead, in the pages that would have contained this year’s
list, we do what HBR does best: publish articles that focus
on research and best practices in management, including
those aimed at eliminating gender and racial inequalities in
the workplace. One example of this is “Getting Serious About
Diversity,” by Robin Ely and David Thomas, which reexamines
the business case for diversity—something every effective
leader needs to understand. I urge you to read it.
Dorinda Elliott
ADI IGNATIUS
Editor in chief
12 Harvard Business Review
November–December 2020
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