Consulting Firms Now Top Source for CEOs: Tech Giants Fall Behind

The Rise of Consulting Firms as CEO Factories: A Shift in Corporate Leadership Bloomberg Business News recently highlighted a significant shift in the origins of CEOs for public companies. The Big Take podcast, using data spanning 15 years, reveals a dramatic rise in the number of CEOs coming from consulting firms like McKinsey and Accenture. This trend challenges the long-held notion that corporate leadership primarily originated from established large companies like General Electric (GE). Matt Boyle, a data researcher, explains, "We saw how these 'factories,' so to speak, have risen and fallen." The data reveals a clear pattern of change, with consulting firms steadily increasing their presence in the top ten CEO sources. This new reality is prompting questions about the role of tech giants in this evolving landscape. "Where's Apple? Where's Meta? Where's Amazon?" Boyle asks, highlighting the relative decline of these tech titans as sources for executive leadership. The analysis suggests a significant change in the way companies recruit and develop their top leadership. The podcast concludes by emphasizing the need for further investigation into this evolving dynamic of global business.