The decisions made by chief executives have profound effects on the economy, the job market, and the products and services people rely on daily.
A strong CEO can steer a company toward innovation, growth, and stability, creating opportunities and contributing to local and national economies. Poor leadership, on the other hand, can result in job losses, economic downturn, and the decline of essential industries. For publicly traded companies, the CEO’s performance directly influences stock prices, often affecting the retirement savings and investments of millions of people.
Ultimately, a chief executive shapes the very success of companies that underpin the economy and touch nearly every aspect of American life. And it’s why CEO appointments should not be taken lightly.
This morning, my colleagues and I published Fortune Next To Lead: The 25 Most Powerful Rising Executives (MPRE) in the Fortune 500.
The list recognizes leaders who have demonstrated extraordinary potential to shape the future of business and emerge as the next generation of Fortune 500 CEOs. Fortune evaluated candidates through in-depth reporting and insights from executive search firms, recruiters, management consulting firms, current and former CEOs, and board members, particularly those on an executive committee.
They were assessed on their roles, financial and business performance, industry influence, and social impact, among other factors.
To qualify, candidates needed to be employed at a Fortune 500 company, reflecting a strong preference for internal promotions, as evidenced by the fact that around 80% of Fortune 500 companies and 77% of S&P 500 companies appointed internal CEOs this year.
Those on the debut MPRE list represent a range of industries but have some commonalities.
• Most have technical expertise, including those who aren’t in tech-first roles like Leah Anderson, who leads WinField United, the crop inputs business at Land O’Lakes and its largest division. Her team is developing and training an AI tool to help farmers drive the most profitable outcome based on decades of agricultural data.
• They have massive profit-and-loss responsibilities and have spearheaded major deals, such as Jennifer Taubert, head of Johnson & Johnson’s $54 billion pharmaceuticals division, and Amazon Web Services’ Uwem Ukpong, who played a pivotal role in Baker Hughes’ $32 billion merger with GE’s oil and gas division before joining AWS.
• They also have global experience, exemplified by Best Buy’s Damien Harmon, who contributed to the company’s expansion into Turkey and China.
• Most importantly, they lead divisions at companies and in industries undergoing significant transformation.
In exhaustive interviews to determine who should be on the list, I spoke with Rick Western, CEO of the management strategy firm Kotter. He pointed to energy, tech, health care, and financial services as industries most likely to produce the next generation of CEOs over the following decade. Many agreed, and those sectors are all prominently featured on the list.
“Look at the areas where the world is going to change the most dramatically over the next five to 10 years, and that is where you are most likely to spot the next Steve Jobs or whomever else you believe was a real [CEO] icon,” Western told me. “It’s going to be because those leaders positioned themselves to solve very significant problems for the world and humanity.”
More news below.
Ruth Umoh
ruth.umoh@fortune.com
TOP NEWS
Former Stellantis CEO is defiant
Former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares is standing by his tenure at the struggling automaker as dealers and executives criticize his legacy. Tavares, who resigned in November after disagreements with the company’s board, recently told the Portuguese newspaper Expresso that he wouldn’t have done anything differently while leading the company.
Ex-Google CEO worries about AI
In an interview with ABC News over the weekend, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt warned that once AI models can “self improve, we need to seriously think about unplugging it.” Schmidt advocates for more government regulation to avoid this worst-case scenario.
Fed is wary of seeming anti-Trump
Fed staffers are reportedly avoiding making comments about President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs in emails and online meetings out of fear that those could go public and be seen as anti-Trump, per the New York Times. Trump has notably soured on Fed Chair Jerome Powell since nominating him for the role in 2017. A Fed spokesperson declined to comment.
AROUND THE WATERCOOLER
Billionaire fashion mogul Isak Andic dies as his Mango chain is expanding rapidly in the US by Jason Ma
Bitcoin reaches new all-time high of $107,000 after Trump confirms plans for Bitcoin reserve by Catherine McGrath
Google DeepMind’s new Veo 2 AI video generator trounces OpenAI’s Sora with 4K resolution by David Meyer
U.K. billionaire’s investment fund is ‘aggressively’ selling Magnificent 7 stocks amid growing fears of AI backlash by Ryan Hogg
This edition of CEO Daily was curated by Joey Abrams.