Now in its second year, the Fortune Next to Lead list spotlights a singular group of 25 influential executives inside the Fortune 500. These are leaders whose influence, track record, and ascent signal something unmistakable: They’re credible, near-term contenders for a CEO seat, regardless of whether they’re actually seeking it. Some are operating just one level below the top job; others are reshaping entire divisions or industries. Yet all have demonstrated the combination of results, reach, and readiness that’s historically defined executives on the threshold of the corner office.
This year, the timing could not be more consequential.
The Fortune 500 is undergoing a generational transition. CEO tenures are compressing. Transformation cycles are shortening. And boards are recalibrating their expectations accordingly, seeking leaders who treat volatility not as an exception, but as a baseline operating condition. The result is a leadership pipeline that looks profoundly different from even a decade ago, and the 2025 Next to Lead list captures that shift in real time.
For much of modern corporate history, the path to the corner office followed a familiar cadence: a long tenure inside one company, a series of rotational assignments, steady ascension, and eventually a carefully managed succession. While that tradition still endures, companies are no longer prioritizing continuity alone. They want transformational operators who can reinvent business models; digital strategists who can digest and break down complexity; and growth-oriented leaders who treat economic and geopolitical uncertainty as an opportunity to move forward rather than a signal to retreat. Increasingly, the executives rising fastest are those who have delivered outsize results early in their careers—and continue to do so.
The story this year’s list tells is not simply who is next in line, but how the entire conception of CEO readiness has evolved. Competence, experience, credentials, and other traditional markers of achievement have become the minimum requirements. What elevates certain successors to the front of the CEO pipeline is their ability to adapt quickly, recognize patterns under pressure, and master the demands of leading at scale. The leaders on this year’s list embody that shift.
While they don’t have a uniform résumé, what unites them is that they’re already operating at CEO altitude. Many run multibillion-dollar enterprises within their organizations, overseeing global operations, sprawling supply chains, cloud platforms, or customer ecosystems that rival Fortune 500 companies in scope. They are the trusted deputies shaping enterprise-wide strategy and driving transformation from the inside out. Their impact stretches across industries: from JPMorgan’s consumer banking juggernaut and Disney’s worldwide experiences arm to Blackstone’s trillion-dollar asset engine and Microsoft’s cloud and AI operations that underpin much of the Fortune 500.
Many bring global fluency, having led teams across continents or operated in multiple markets. And nearly all have earned the confidence of boards and investors, with some already serving on public company boards or executive management committees.
Just as important as their accomplishments is the consistency with which they deliver them. These are leaders with multiyear histories of navigating crises, building high-performing cultures, managing complexity, and sustaining results despite challenging environments.
Blackstone’s Jon Gray has more than doubled the firm’s assets under management to $1.2 trillion while broadening its global footprint, underscoring both strategic vision and financial stewardship. Marianne Lake of JPMorgan Chase leads a consumer and small-business banking empire serving more than 85 million Americans, delivering growth inside one of global finance’s most scrutinized divisions. At UPS, Kate Gutmann helped orchestrate the company’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution and is rapidly expanding its cold-chain capabilities—a demonstration of crisis leadership and operational mastery.
At Disney, Josh D’Amaro oversees a worldwide experiences division embarking on a $60 billion expansion of parks, resorts, cruise ships, and next-generation guest experiences. It’s one of the more ambitious transformation agendas in the entertainment industry. Scott Guthrie at Microsoft has shaped Azure into a cloud powerhouse that now supports the vast majority of Fortune 500 companies, positioning him at the center of Microsoft’s cloud and AI strategy. Donna Langley at NBCUniversal is redefining the studio’s multi-platform strategy, while General Motors’ Mark Reuss oversees a broad operational portfolio, from engineering and manufacturing to battery strategy and global markets, making him a central architect of GM’s long-term competitiveness.
These executives, collectively, embody the attributes Fortune looks for in tomorrow’s most influential leaders, because while the future might be murky and uncertain, one thing is for sure: The corner office of the immediate future will not be occupied by those preparing to lead, but by those who already are.
