See the MBA programs of Fortune 500 CEOs.
An MBA is a popular steppingstone to a lucrative job as a business executive. So it probably comes as no surprise that ambitious people often apply to a graduate business school with the hope that, if they are admitted to an MBA program, they can progress faster in their career.
If you’re an MBA applicant looking for a role model, you can find inspiration in the stories of Fortune 500 CEOs with MBA degrees. Read on to discover where 10 Fortune 500 leaders went to business school.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc.
B-school where he earned his MBA: Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in North Carolina
U.S. News business school rank: 11 (tie)
In a 2013 talk at Duke University, Cook said he learned many important lessons at the university’s business school. “What this place teaches you so well is how to learn and how to collaborate; and how to think about something; and how to approach something; and how to work with people who come from a very different point of view and have a different perspective than you do,” he said.
Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart Inc.
B-school where he earned his MBA: University of Tulsa’s Collins College of Business in Oklahoma
U.S. News business school rank: Rank Not Published
Doug McMillon, an Arkansas native, started his career at Walmart as a teenager, when he got a job unloading the company’s trucks.
After those humble beginnings, McMillon rose to prominence; he now heads Walmart, which is the No. 1 company in the Fortune 500 ranking. He also earns a significant paycheck. In 2017, McMillon’s total compensation was $22.8 million, according to paperwork his company filed with the federal government. McMillon’s MBA degree is in finance, a lucrative MBA specialization.
Darren W. Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil Corp.
B-school where he earned his MBA: Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Illinois
U.S. News business school rank: 6
Before he took the reins at ExxonMobil and became a leader in the oil and gas industry, Darren Woods — a Midwesterner from Kansas — earned degrees in two practical and marketable fields of study: engineering and business. In addition to an MBA degree, he holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.
Woods became the CEO of ExxonMobil when his predecessor, Rex Tillerson, was appointed as Secretary of State in the Trump administration.
Gail Boudreaux, CEO of Anthem Inc.
B-school where she earned her MBA: Columbia Business School in New York City
U.S. News business school rank: 9
Prior to becoming a leader in the health care sector, Bourdreaux earned two degrees from Ivy League schools, including a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Columbia University. In addition to those academic accolades, Boudreaux also distinguished herself in athletics: While in college, she played for Dartmouth’s basketball team during an era when the team won three Ivy League basketball championships. Plus, Boudreaux was recognized as an Ivy League Player of the Year three times, and in 2017, the Ivy League honored her and 15 other distinguished alumni athletes with its “Legends of Ivy League Basketball” award.
Alex Gorsky, CEO of Johnson & Johnson
B-school where he earned his MBA: The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania
U.S. News business school rank: 3
Pharmaceutical company leader Alex Gorsky began his Johnson & Johnson career by working as a sales representative. His company was ranked No. 1 among pharmaceutical companies in Fortune magazine’s 2018 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies.
Indra K. Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo Inc.
B-schools where she earned her graduate business degrees: Indian Institute of Management Calcutta in India and Yale School of Management in Connecticut
U.S. News business school rank for Yale: 11 (tie) (The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta was not included in the U.S. News Best Business Schools rankings.)
Before taking over PepsiCo, one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies, Indra Nooyi immigrated to the U.S. from India. While in India, Nooyi had attended one of the country’s preeminent business schools, the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, and graduated from its postgraduate program. After arriving in the U.S., Nooyi studied business at Yale University, where she earned a master’s degree in public and private management — a degree that was the functional equivalent of an MBA. (In 1999, years after Nooyi graduated from Yale, the school began giving MBA degrees.) After graduating from business school, she spent six years working as a management consultant for the prestigious Boston Consulting Group.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase & Co.
B-school where he earned his MBA: Harvard Business School in Massachusetts
U.S. News business school rank: 1 (tie)
Jamie Dimon, the legendary finance and banking executive, grew up in an affluent New York family. Both his father and grandfather were Wall Street stockbrokers.
Dimon was a stellar student. He graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree, and he graduated from Harvard Business School as a Baker Scholar, meaning that he was in the top 5 percent of his MBA class.
W. Douglas Parker, CEO of American Airlines Group Inc.
B-school where he earned his MBA degree: Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management in Tennessee
U.S. News business school rank: 26
As an airline executive with decades of experience, Doug Parker — the CEO of American Airlines — has survived tumultuous times in the aviation industry, including the Sept. 11 attacks, surges in fuel prices and the Great Recession.
Mary T. Barra, CEO of General Motors Co.
B-school where she earned her MBA degree: Stanford Graduate School of Business in California
U.S. News business school rank: 4
Mary Barra, the first female CEO of the iconic car company General Motors, began working for GM when she was 18, when she was trying to raise money to fund her college education.
After earning her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Kettering University, a school that was then known as the General Motors Institute, Barra went on to earn her MBA from Stanford University.
Marvin Ellison, CEO of Lowe’s Cos.
B-school where he earned his MBA degree: Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Georgia
U.S. News business school rank: 20 (tie)
The newly appointed Lowe’s CEO was recently the CEO at J.C. Penney Co. Ellison was the first African American CEO at J.C. Penney in the retailer’s history, and he has extensive experience in the retail industry, including many years spent working as an executive at the Home Depot Inc.
In 2016, Fortune magazine honored Ellison by including him on its list of “World’s Greatest Leaders in 2016,” and Black Enterprise Magazine identified him as the “2016 Corporate Executive of the Year.”
Identify the MBA programs that boost career opportunities.
If you’re applying to business school because you either want to break into a competitive industry or you’re eager to advance in your current one, it’s important to identify a school that will help you get your dream job.
Analyze the employment statistics in the U.S. News Best Business Schools rankings to identify the schools that give you the greatest chance of career success. Follow U.S News Education on Twitter and Facebook for more guidance on MBA programs.
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10 MBA Programs That Trained Fortune 500 CEOs originally appeared on usnews.com
