• Home
  • News
  • Fortune 500
  • Tech
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
NewslettersCEO Daily

Running one of the World’s Most Admired Companies appears to be correlated with CEO longevity

By
David Meyer
David Meyer
and
Alan Murray
Alan Murray
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
David Meyer
David Meyer
and
Alan Murray
Alan Murray
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 1, 2023, 7:01 AM ET
Warren Buffett, Jamie Dimon and Cathy Baron-Tamraz attend A Book Party For Tap Dancing To Work: Warren Buffett On Practically Everything, 1966-2012 By Carol Loomis at The Lambs Club on November 26, 2012 in New York City.
Warren Buffett, Jamie Dimon, and Cathy Baron-Tamraz attend a book party for “Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966–2012,” by Carol Loomis, at the Lambs Club on Nov. 26, 2012, in New York City.Donald Bowers—Getty Images for Fortune

Good morning.

Fortune’s annual World’s Most Admired Companies list can sometimes seem like an exercise in the obvious. Apple is still on top of our ranking of corporate reputation this year, capping a string of 16 years. Amazon, Microsoft, and Berkshire Hathaway are close behind. Anyone surprised?

But occasionally, a reputational shift demands notice. That happened last year to Pfizer, which came from nowhere to capture the fourth spot on the All-Stars list, based on its pandemic performance. This year it’s hanging in at No. 8. Another mover this year is Occidental Petroleum, which earned the top spot on the mining and crude oil production industry list. That’s a feather in the cap of CEO Vicki Hollub, who may have gotten a boost from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway investment, but also has led the industry in focusing and investing in efforts to counteract carbon and methane emissions. On the downside, Netflix slid from No. 9 to No. 29 on our All-Stars list. And when asked to name the world’s most overrated CEO, survey respondents mentioned Elon Musk most often.

Running a most admired company appears to be correlated with the longevity of CEOs. Warren Buffett (No. 4) has 53 years on the job. Jamie Dimon (No. 5) has 17 at JPMorgan Chase. Overall, the CEOs of our 500 All-Stars had an average of 7.8 years as of Jan. 1—25% more than the average Fortune 500 CEO.

A special shout-out to the five companies that have been on the list every year since it started 25 years ago: Berkshire Hathaway, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, and Toyota. That kind of consistent reputation isn’t easy to maintain.

You can find the full list here, and a note on our methodology here. Other news below.  


Alan Murray
@alansmurray

alan.murray@fortune.com

TOP NEWS

Intel pay cuts

Intel is slashing pay across its workforce—CEO Pat Gelsinger is lopping a quarter off his own packet, other top execs are losing 15%, and mid-level managers will be 5% worse off. The company is desperate to cut costs owing to declining revenues, which are affecting the whole chip sector. There’s also recently been pressure on Gelsinger over the girth of his compensation; Apple and Goldman Sachs have recently cut the pay of CEOs Tim Cook and David Solomon. Fortune

January gains

The Nasdaq rose 11% last month, making for its best January since 2001 (12%), which of course turned out to be a pretty terrible year for the tech sector—generally, though, strong Januaries tend to be followed by good years. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average also rose 6.2% and 2.8% respectively last month. Wall Street Journal

Amazon v. unions

Amazon illegally threatened to “withhold wage increases and improved benefits from employees” if they chose to unionize, a federal judge has ruled. The threat was levied last year during unionization elections at a pair of Staten Island warehouses. However, the judge dismissed other accusations, including over Amazon’s alleged threat to cut take-home pay if employees unionized. New York Times

AROUND THE WATERCOOLER

The Ukraine war made Telegram’s app more popular and important than ever. But making money is still a struggle, by Vivienne Walt

Risky stocks are trending again as investors pile into tech’s ultra losers, by Bloomberg

How the airline industry is using A.I. to improve the entire experience of flying, by John Kell

A JPMorgan strategist just said that markets are in big trouble if the economy doesn’t fall into a recession, by Prarthana Prakash

California has a plan for cutting Colorado River use. It involves pretending water doesn’t evaporate, by Associated Press

This edition of CEO Daily was edited by David Meyer. 

This is the web version of CEO Daily, a newsletter of must-read insights from Fortune CEO Alan Murray. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.

About the Authors
By David Meyer
LinkedIn icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Alan Murray
By Alan Murray
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Newsletters

Berkshire Hathaway logo is seen displayed on a smartphone screen.
NewslettersCFO Daily
Berkshire appoints new CFO as analysts warn of more executive departures
By Sheryl EstradaDecember 9, 2025
3 hours ago
NewslettersTerm Sheet
Key questions to stay grounded in the AI frenzy
By Alexei OreskovicDecember 9, 2025
5 hours ago
NewslettersCEO Daily
2026 will be the year CEOs must prove AI is powering growth—not just cost cutting and layoffs
By Diane BradyDecember 9, 2025
6 hours ago
Jesse Levinson, co-founder and chief technology officer at Zoox, speaking at Fortune Brainstorm AI 2025 in San Francisco. (Photo: Stuart Isett/Fortune)
NewslettersFortune Tech
Zoox’s road to revenue begins to materialize
By Andrew NuscaDecember 9, 2025
6 hours ago
NewslettersMPW Daily
A new book celebrates the women who built Microsoft into a trillion-dollar company
By Emma HinchliffeDecember 8, 2025
24 hours ago
Ray Yuen, office managing director at the design and architecture firm Gensler, speaks at Fortune's 2026 Brainstorm Design conference in Macau.
NewslettersFortune CHRO
If you want your employees back in the office, try feeding them, says Gensler executive
By Kristin StollerDecember 8, 2025
1 day ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Real Estate
The 'Great Housing Reset' is coming: Income growth will outpace home-price growth in 2026, Redfin forecasts
By Nino PaoliDecember 6, 2025
3 days ago
placeholder alt text
Investing
Baby boomers have now 'gobbled up' nearly one-third of America's wealth share, and they're leaving Gen Z and millennials behind
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 8, 2025
22 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Uncategorized
Transforming customer support through intelligent AI operations
By Lauren ChomiukNovember 26, 2025
13 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Craigslist founder signs the Giving Pledge, and his fortune will go to military families, fighting cyberattacks—and a pigeon rescue
By Sydney LakeDecember 8, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
When David Ellison was 13, his billionaire father Larry bought him a plane. He competed in air shows before leaving it to become a Hollywood executive
By Dave SmithDecember 9, 2025
6 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
‘Godfather of AI’ says Bill Gates and Elon Musk are right about the future of work—but he predicts mass unemployment is on its way
By Preston ForeDecember 4, 2025
5 days ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.