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Sustainability concerns shake up ranking of world’s top CEOs

19 January 2023
·       New research finds Nvidia’s Jensen Huang has become the highest ranked brand guardian based on recognition of his visionary leadership
·       Mukesh Ambani of Indian conglomerate Reliance earns 2nd place
·       ‘Commercial leadership’ and ‘inspiring positive change’ are now the two most important drivers of reputation.

Read the full report here – https://brandirectory.com/brand-guardianship

Nvidia CEO, Jensen Huang, has become the highest ranked CEO globally according to a new report from leading brand valuation consultancy, Brand Finance. Huang’s rise to the top spot reflects his crucial role in overseeing Nvidia’s advancement into the next era of computing, through innovation in artificial intelligence, digital biology, climate sciences, and autonomous vehicles and robotics. This has pushed the Nvidia brand to further achieve positive change by helping solve challenges and redefine the future. 

Annie Brown, General Manager UK Consulting at Brand Finance, commented:

“This year has seen a shift in the top drivers of brand guardian reputation due to the uncertain global financial market, with ‘Commercial Leadership’ and ‘Inspiring Positive Change’ now the two most important drivers of reputation. This reflects the necessity of brand guardians maintaining a strong focus on commercial outcomes in difficult operating conditions.”

Mukesh Ambani of Reliance has also moved into 2nd position, overtaking Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, who now sits in 3rd place. They are joined at the top of the ranking by the brand guardians of several well-known brands: Adobe’s Shantanu Narayen (4th), Google’s Sundar Pichai (5th), and Deloitte’s Punit Renjen (6th).

Ambani continues to oversee Reliance’s transition into green energy, and the diversification of its telecoms and retail branches. This commitment to positive change has positively raised his perception as Chairman and Managing Director of the group and is reflected by Ambani’s top performance on the ‘Inspires positive change’ metric within the Brand Guardianship Index.

CHANEL CEO Leena Nair was the highest ranked female in the ranking in 11th position. Only 7 out of 100 brand guardians are female. However, we expect and hope to see an increase in the number of highly ranking female Chief Executives included in the ranking in coming years.

More than ever before, highly paid brand guardians are being held accountable for their commercial and moral organisational leadership. CEOs are expected to successfully manage the needs and expectations of all stakeholders. As a result of this, 2022 has seen the dismissal of a number of formerly high-ranking brand guardians, such as Disney’s Bob Chapek.

Half of this year’s top ten Chief Executives or equivalents came from the tech and media sectors, down from 9 out of 10 in 2022, highlighting a diversification of sectors at the top of the ranking in 2023. Engineering and Finance are the most common backgrounds that those in the ranking came from. These both accounted for 27 of the brand guardians included in the ranking, more than double the next most common background, which was Computer Science. 9 CEOs were the founders of the companies they now lead, while an astonishing 72 out of 100 were internally appointed to their current position.

At a country level, the US leads the ranking and China follows. However, Indian Chief Executives also performed well, with six in the top 100 and two in the top ten. There was a further 4 Indian-American CEOs in the top 10. Germany also accounted for 6 CEOs in the ranking, while the UAE punched well above its weight with 3 CEOs in the top 100.

ENDS

Read the full report here - https://brandirectory.com/brand-guardianship

Note to Editors

Brand Finance is a world leading research, valuation and strategy consultancy.

Headquartered in London, Brand Finance has offices in over 20 countries, offering services on all continents. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 5,000 brand valuations, supported by original market research, and publishes over 100 reports which rank brands across all sectors and countries.

Brand Finance is a regulated accountancy firm, leading the standardization of the brand valuation industry. Brand Finance was the first to be certified by independent auditors as compliant with both ISO 10668 and ISO 20671 and has received the official endorsement of the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) in the United States.

Media Contacts

Michael Josem
Associate Communications Director
Brand Finance
Ed Will
Group Marketing & Communications Director
Brand Finance

About Brand Finance          

Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organisations of all kinds make strategic decisions.

Headquartered in London, Brand Finance has offices in over 20 countries, offering services on all continents. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 5,000 brand valuations, supported by original market research, and publishes over 100 reports which rank brands across all sectors and countries.

Brand Finance is a regulated accountancy firm, leading the standardisation of the brand valuation industry. Brand Finance was the first to be certified by independent auditors as compliant with both ISO 10668 and ISO 20671, and has received the official endorsement of the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) in the United States.

Disclaimer

Brand Finance has produced this study with an independent and unbiased analysis. The values derived and opinions presented in this study are based on publicly available information and certain assumptions that Brand Finance used where such data was deficient or unclear. Brand Finance accepts no responsibility and will not be liable in the event that the publicly available information relied upon is subsequently found to be inaccurate. The opinions and financial analysis expressed in the study are not to be construed as providing investment or business advice. Brand Finance does not intend the study to be relied upon for any reason and excludes all liability to any body, government, or organisation.

The data presented in this study form part of Brand Finance's proprietary database, are provided for the benefit of the media, and are not to be used in part or in full for any commercial or technical purpose without written permission from Brand Finance.

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