Remember the days of the wizened CEO, with a crisp pinstripe suit, and salt and pepper hair? Neither do these execs. In fact, they barely remember the 80s. Here, the five youngest CEOs on this year’s Fortune 500 list—all the more remarkable considering the average age of the Fortune 500 CEO is 58.
5 Jeffrey J. Brown, CEO and Director of Ally Financial, 43
Brown joined Ally in 2009 after a decade at Bank of America, where he served as corporate treasurer. He was named CEO and Director of Ally Financial, America’s largest auto lender previously known as GMAC, last year. Automotive News reports that not only is the Charlotte native beloved of Wall Street, but when the National Automobile Dealers Association Convention was held in San Francisco last January, Brown made time to cross off a bucket-list item by jogging across the Golden Gate Bridge and back.
4 Larry Page, CEO and Director of Alphabet Inc, 43
Larry Page founded Google in 1998 as a Stanford graduate student, powering the search engine with an algorithm he invented while writing his doctoral thesis. Last October, Page took the helm of Google’s new parent holding company Alphabet. Widely regarded as one of the world’s leading innovators, Page continues to drive Alphabet’s “moonshot” efforts.
3 Stefan Larsson, President, CEO, and Director of Ralph Lauren, 41
Stefan Larsson has been president and CEO at Ralph Lauren since November 2015. The Swedish-born businessman joined Gap Inc. in 2012 as global president of Old Navy, spearheading a rejuvenation that increased revenue by nearly $1 billion after sales plummeted during the Recession. Larsson replaced designer Ralph Lauren as CEO last fall.
2 Keith Cozza, President, CEO and Director of Icahn Enterprises L.P., 37
Keith Cozza was appointed CEO and President of Icahn Enterprises in 2014 after a decade at the company. The young leader began his career at Icahn as a controller, before moving up to the roles of CFO and executive vice president. On top of his responsibilities at Icahn, Cozza is also a director at Tropicana Entertainment and Herbalife, as well as a member of the executive committee of XO Holdings.
1 Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and Chairman of Facebook, 32
As the legend goes, Mark Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook from his Harvard dorm room at the ripe old age of 20. He has been CEO of Facebook since July 2004 and Chairman since 2012. Now the fourth-richest person in the world at 32, Zuckerberg has all but shed his image as the hoodied Silicon Valley wunderkind—building an identity as a philanthropist, budding statesman, and global advocate for access to the internet (and to Facebook).
