Who are the top-rated CEOs?

  • Jena McGregor The Washington Post
  • Friday, March 21, 2014 4:46pm
  • Business

WASHINGTON — Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer may have put the kibosh on working from home last year and received attention for a performance review system that ranked employees on a curve — just as Microsoft was dumping that much-hated approach. But that hasn’t stopped her from getting a 79 percent approval rating from Yahoo employees, making her one of two female chief executives to place among the 50 most popular CEOs of large U.S. companies, according to Glassdoor.

The career website is out with its 2014 listing of the country’s best-rated CEOs, according to ratings that were part of company reviews on Glassdoor over the past 12 months. Mayer came in 49th, barely squeaking into the top 50, but she’s in good company. The top five include the list’s No. 1, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner (who clocked a 100 percent rating), as well as Ford’s Alan Mulally (No. 2, 97 percent) and Costco’s Craig Jelinek (No. 5, 95 percent).

Last year’s No. 1, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, fell to No. 9 this year; the biggest climber on the list was Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, who rose from No. 37 in 2013 to No. 7 this year. He scored a 93 percent rating, slightly above the 88 percent average of the top 50 companies. The average CEO approval rating among the 300,000 companies that have reviews on Glassdoor is 69 percent.

Given how little most Americans think of business leaders — a 2013 Pew Research Center survey found just 24 percent think business executives offer “a lot” to society — that’s a pretty high grade. Only one in five people, according to a 2014 report by the public relations firm Edelman, trusts corporate leaders to tell the truth and make ethical and moral decisions. Employees may give their own CEOs higher ratings because they know them well — or despite the fact that they don’t.

“Many times, employees have never met the CEO, so are basically judging them on their leadership of the company,” said Scott Dobroski, Glassdoor’s community expert.

For the first time this year, the company also collected a list of the highest-rated leaders of small- and medium-sized businesses. Four CEOs — Intaact’s Robert Reid, APT’s Anthony Bruce, Paylocity’s Steve Beauchamp and SirsiDynex’s Bill Davison — each received a 100 percent rating from his employees. To be considered for this list, companies had to have at least 30 reviews.

Others: No. 3 Richard Edelman of the Edelman public relations firm, Qualcomm’s Paul Jacobs at No. 4, Capital One’s Richard Fairbank at No. 27, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos at No. 32, Victoria’s Secret Stores’ Sharen Turney was 34th, Marriott’s Arne Sorenson was 35th and GEICO’s Tony Nicely ranked 46th.

McGregor writes about leading in changing times for The Washington Post’s On Leadership blog.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

Black Press Media operates Sound Publishing, the largest community news organization in Washington State with dailies and community news outlets in Alaska.
Black Press Media concludes transition of ownership

Black Press Media, which operates Sound Publishing, completed its sale Monday (March 25), following the formerly announced corporate restructuring.

Maygen Hetherington, executive director of the Historic Downtown Snohomish Association, laughs during an interview in her office on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in Snohomish, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Maygen Hetherington: tireless advocate for the city of Snohomish

Historic Downtown Snohomish Association receives the Opportunity Lives Here award from Economic Alliance.

FILE - Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs poses in front of photos of the 15 people who previously held the office on Nov. 22, 2021, after he was sworn in at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Hobbs faces several challengers as he runs for election to the office he was appointed to last fall. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs: ‘I wanted to serve my country’

Hobbs, a former Lake Stevens senator, is the recipient of the Henry M. Jackson Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Mark Duffy poses for a photo in his office at the Mountain Pacific Bank headquarters on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Mark Duffy: Building a hometown bank; giving kids an opportunity

Mountain Pacific Bank’s founder is the recipient of the Fluke Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Barb Tolbert poses for a photo at Silver Scoop Ice Cream on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Barb Tolbert: Former mayor piloted Arlington out of economic brink

Tolbert won the Elson S. Floyd Award, honoring a leader who has “created lasting opportunities” for the underserved.

Photo provided by 
Economic Alliance
Economic Alliance presented one of the Washington Rising Stem Awards to Katie Larios, a senior at Mountlake Terrace High School.
Mountlake Terrace High School senior wins state STEM award

Katie Larios was honored at an Economic Alliance gathering: “A champion for other young women of color in STEM.”

The Westwood Rainier is one of the seven ships in the Westwood line. The ships serve ports in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast Asia. (Photo provided by Swire Shipping)
Westwood Shipping Lines, an Everett mainstay, has new name

The four green-hulled Westwood vessels will keep their names, but the ships will display the Swire Shipping flag.

A Keyport ship docked at Lake Union in Seattle in June 2018. The ship spends most of the year in Alaska harvesting Golden King crab in the Bering Sea. During the summer it ties up for maintenance and repairs at Lake Union. (Keyport LLC)
In crabbers’ turbulent moment, Edmonds seafood processor ‘saved our season’

When a processing plant in Alaska closed, Edmonds-based business Keyport stepped up to solve a “no-win situation.”

Angela Harris, Executive Director of the Port of Edmonds, stands at the port’s marina on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Edmonds, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Leadership, love for the Port of Edmonds got exec the job

Shoring up an aging seawall is the first order of business for Angela Harris, the first woman to lead the Edmonds port.

The Cascade Warbirds fly over Naval Station Everett. (Sue Misao / The Herald file)
Bothell High School senior awarded $2,500 to keep on flying

Cascade Warbirds scholarship helps students 16-21 continue flight training and earn a private pilot’s certificate.

Rachel Gardner, the owner of Musicology Co., a new music boutique record store on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Edmonds, Washington. Musicology Co. will open in February, selling used and new vinyl, CDs and other music-related merchandise. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Edmonds record shop intends to be a ‘destination for every musician’

Rachel Gardner opened Musicology Co. this month, filling a record store gap in Edmonds.

MyMyToyStore.com owner Tom Harrison at his brick and mortar storefront on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Burst pipe permanently closes downtown Everett toy store

After a pipe flooded the store, MyMyToystore in downtown Everett closed. Owner Tom Harrison is already on to his next venture.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.