The world's best-performing CEO revealed

Jeff Bezos, the big boss of online retail store giant Amazon, has been named the world's best CEO by Harvard Business Review (HBR).

According to the rankings, Bezos came out on top for delivering an industry-adjusted total shareholder return of 14,917%, as well as a country-adjusted total shareholder return of 15,189%. This has helped increase the company's value by $140 billion.

“In many ways, Bezos’s place atop the list says it all,” the report from HBR stated.

“Here’s a CEO who has frequently underperformed in the short term while continuing to make big bets on the future. Amazon often reports quarterly losses, even as sales continue to rise. And though the company is subject, like many firms, to dramatic share-price swings, Amazon and Bezos have a long-term track record of delivering shareholder value that is second to none.”

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While calculating the rankings, the report analysed the increase in total shareholder return and market capitalization of companies, and considered the performance of active CEOs over their entire stints (the minimum being two years.)

“The top CEOs have undeniably been effective,” the report concluded.

“We acknowledge, of course, that being a good CEO is about far more than just investment performance. Leading a company and creating value depend on many skills that are hard to measure—strategic vision, authenticity, long-term planning. And investors certainly aren’t the only stakeholders that need tending to; the best-run companies connect effectively with customers, employees, and the communities where they operate.”

The report also delved into the typical profile and demographic of the world’s top CEOs.

Over a quarter of the top 100 CEOs had MBAs, and nearly as many had studied engineering. Thirteen CEOs were also found to be of nationalities that differed from their companies’.

Yet only two women, Debra Cafaro of Ventas and Carol Meyrowitz of TJX, made the top 100.

The world's 10 best CEOs

1. John Bezos (Amazon)2. John Martin (Gilead Sciences)3. John Chambers (Cisco Systems)4. David Pyott (Allergan)5. David Simon (Simon Property Group)6. Lars Rebien Sørensen (Novo Nordisk)7. Hugh Grant (Monsanto)8. J Michael Pearson (Valeant Pharmaceuticals)9. Mark Donegan (Precision Castparts)10. William Doyle (PotashCorp)

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