Chief executive officer

"Chief executive" and "CEO" redirect here. For other uses, see Chief executive (disambiguation) and CEO (disambiguation).
Group of Fortune 500 CEOs in 2015

A chief executive officer (CEO),[1] also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate executive charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.

CEOs find roles in various organizations, including public and private corporations, nonprofit organizations, and even some government organizations (notably state-owned enterprises). The governor and CEO of a corporation or company typically reports to the board of directors and is charged with maximizing the value of the business,[1] which may include maximizing the profitability, market share, revenue, or another financial metric. In the nonprofit and government sector, CEOs typically aim at achieving outcomes related to the organization's mission, usually provided by legislation. CEOs are also frequently assigned the role of the main manager of the organization and the highest-ranking officer in the C-suite.[2]

  1. ^ a b Lin, Tom C. W. (April 23, 2014). "CEOs and Presidents". UC Davis Law Review. SSRN 2428371.
  2. ^ Westphal, James D.; Zajac, Edward J. (March 1995). "Who Shall Govern? CEO/Board Power, Demographic Similarity, and New Director Selection". Administrative Science Quarterly. 40 (1): 60–83. doi:10.2307/2393700. JSTOR 2393700.