Top CEO Degrees: What Successful Business Leaders Studied

We always have idols. Whom we look up to, who is an excellent source of inspiration, and this leads to curiosity as to what they did right to get to where they are now. This will give us a pathway to follow so that we can reach that goal. Yes, we have heard about great CEOs who were dropouts but are now running multi-million-dollar companies.   

But that is a rare scenario, and this might not work for everyone. As per a report by Harvard Business Review, only 8% of the CEOs have reached their position without a college degree. This pinpoints only one fact: education is the keystone for making an individual employee-worthy.   

And this applies to CEOs, too. But what qualification certifies one to get to their level? What degrees help in being a CEO? This article will provide you with details to help you get to the corner office.   

Read More: Do I need an MBA to become a CEO? 

Who is a Chief Executive Officer 

The Chief Executive Officer is the highest-ranking executive of a company, responsible for making weighty corporate decisions, overseeing operations, and serving as the primary communication link between the board of directors and corporate operations. 

What Top CEOs Studied 

With many companies around, we have several great examples of leaders. But as the primary intent of this article suggests, there is no single “CEO degree” that will help you reach the top. In simple words, there is no cookie-cutter formula to crack this. It could be interesting to see what their educational history was and how that education helped shape who they are today.  As this is starting to sound interesting, let’s dig more into it.   

Sundar Pichai 

Source: LinkedIn  

Company: Alphabet (Google Inc.) 

Educational Qualification: BTech in Metallurgical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, MS from Stanford University in Materials Science and Engineering, MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania 

Road to the Peak: Though it may sound like a simple Madurai boy rose to be the CEO of the greatest company, he earned his position through pure grit and determination. Started off at Google in the year 2014, he climbed several ranks studying the business and playing key development roles in products like Google Chrome and the Android operating system. 

Interesting Twist: Who knew a person who started sailing with the science and technology of metals and alloys would run a tech giant in the future? 

Howard Schultz  

Source: LinkedIn 

Company – Starbucks  

Education – Graduated from Canarsie High School, B.A. in Communications from Northern Michigan University (NMU)  

Road to the Peak – Hailing from a humble background, Howard’s career journey began when he joined Xerox as a salesman. Later in 1989, at the young age of 29, he was employed with Starbucks as their Director of Retail Operations and Marketing. Later on, he opened his own coffee store also named Starbucks, which was later acquired by the real one. And then, with several ups and downs, under his leadership, this conglomerate became a luxury brand icon among coffee lovers.   

Interesting twist: While initially working with Starbucks, he happened to visit Italy, which completely gave him a different vision for the brand. Apparently, Italians treated their coffee shops more as hubs rather than just a place to grab their coffee. This revealed a premium approach that was missing in America at that time. Hence, the new viral coffee culture was born and has been cherished throughout the world.   

Read More: All You Need to Know About MCA in Data Science 

Indra Nooyi

Source: LinkedIn 

Company: PepsiCo 

Education: BS in Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics from Madras Christian College, Post Graduate Program Diploma from IIM Calcutta, MS in Public and Private Management from Yale School of Management.  

Road to the Peak: Indra was a woman who knew exactly what she wanted. She worked in several companies, such as Johnson & Johnson, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Motorola, and Asea Brown Boveri (ABB). Later, she entered the legendary tenure at PepsiCo, where she took over the company’s global strategy for more than a decade and also led PepsiCo’s restructuring fiasco.   

Interesting Twist: Rather than just sticking to sugary sodas, she made an impact on PepsiCo by manufacturing healthier snacks and beverages like Tropicana and Quaker oats, a bold and controversial move back then. Critics doubted her, but the strategy paid off and positioned PepsiCo as a forward-thinking brand. 

Elon Musk 

Source: Wikipedia 

Company: Tesla 

Education: Dual bachelor’s degrees in Physics and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Road to Peak: This list would be incomplete without Elon Musk. Musk started his career by founding his first company, Zip2, then moved on to several ventures, including SpaceX, and finally joined Tesla as its CEO. All his companies are legendary in their own way and are studied as examples of how businesses are run. 

Interesting Twist: He left his PhD program in physics (and material science) at Stanford in two days to join the internet boom to start his entrepreneurial journey. Classic Elon! 

An interesting read: 10 reasons why you should pursue MCA in 2024 

Leena Nair 

Source: LinkedIn 

Company: Chanel 

Education: Electronics and Telecommunication (E&TC) Engineering at Walchand College of Engineering, MBA from XLRI – Xavier School of Management.  

Road to peak: She began her career as a summer intern at Unilever and progressed to Executive Director and Vice President of HR. Over two years, she increased productivity by 33% and helped women rejoin the workforce after career breaks through the “Career by Choice” program. Her rapid rise continued; she became the first female, first Asian, and youngest-ever Chief Human Resources Officer. Under her leadership, Unilever achieved a 50/50 gender balance in its global leadership and management roles. Later, she broke new ground again as the first female and Indian-origin CEO of Chanel, despite lacking prior fashion industry experience. At Chanel, her focus on sustainability, exclusivity, and gender equality advanced the company toward its 2040 goal of zero carbon emissions.   

Interesting Twist: Having achieved so much, it is a wonder that getting her education was always a negotiation. Hailing from a small town in Kolhapur (Maharashtra), she was the first woman from her family to enroll in engineering. Later on, her father was very adamant when she requested to continue her studies. Finally, they reached a compromise: he would allow her to study only if she agreed to marry. And that is how she met her life partner, Kumar Nair. 

Neal Mohan 

Source: LinkedIn 

Company: YouTube 

Education: Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering & Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Standford University.   

Road to Peak: Mohan started his career at Accenture and then joined a startup called NetGravity. Later, he worked his way up to become the CEO of YouTube, where he also played a prominent role in expanding YouTube into YouTube TV, YouTube Music, YouTube Premium, and YouTube Shorts. 

Interesting Twist: During his childhood, he moved back to India precisely at grade 7, where he found himself somewhere he did not belong. He sounded funny because of his accent, and this cultural shift became a formative experience that later shaped his global perspective. 

Michele Buck 

Source: LinkedIn 

Company: Hershey’s 

Education: Bachelor’s degree at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, Master of Business Administration at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 

Road to peak: After a 17-year tenure at Kraft/Nabisco, and later on she moved to Hershey’s where she worked her way up to become the CEO.  

Interesting twist: Having started working at 10, Michele has taken up odd jobs such as newspaper delivery, babysitting, and waitressing. All these experiences gave her the knack for a grounded leadership style and for staying close-knit with her employees at every level.   

Some Rare Scenarios 

Below are some of the CEOs who made it big without a degree. As addressed, these are rare scenarios, but still, it is fun to know their side of the story. So, let’s gear up for more.   

Bill Gates 

Source: LinkedIn 

Company: Microsoft 

Education: Graduate level computer science courses and Math 55 at Harvard University (dropout).  

Road to peak: Not a regular story, but it’s the famous one about a dropout who became the youngest richest man. Gates was very sure about his future and what he wanted in life. This is how he dropped out of Harvard and pursued his idea of starting Microsoft, which, to date, has been a huge success. 

Interesting twist: Did you know that at the age of around 13, Bill Gates and his friends had discovered a teletype terminal and later a PDP-10 computer? They exploited bugs in the system to gain free time, which led to a ban from the company supplying the machine. This early experience in “hacking” and programming significantly shaped his future path in software. 

Mark Zuckerberg 

Source: Wikipedia

Company: Meta 

Education: Graduate in Computer Science and Psychology at Harvard University (dropout) 

Road to Peak: Known as the coding prodigy, Zuckerberg always found software to address any convenience he or the people around him needed in his life. After his school days, his Harvard years gave him a big break. He created various tools, such as CourseMatch, a course selection tool, and Facemash, a photo comparison website that was quite controversial. If Facemash rang any bells, it was the app that gave birth to the famous Facebook. Knowing its potential, he left Harvard and went on to develop it, and the rest is history. Later, he created the metaverse and several other social media platforms that are very relevant in today’s dynamic environment.   

Interesting twist: When he was still in school, Zuckerberg developed a program for his dad’s dental office and for his family home, a kind of internal messaging system called “ZuckNet”. It shows how early the inclination to build communication tools was present. 

Give this a read: Fastest-growing Business Skills in 2025

Bottom line 

There’s no single blueprint to becoming a successful CEO. While most leaders we look upon to have pursued strong educational foundations such as engineering, business, finance, communications, or a blend of disciplines, some have taken unconventional routes and still risen to the top. What truly sets them apart is not just their degree but their vision, resilience, strategic thinking, and ability to adapt to an ever-changing business world. 

But in a microscopic view it is convinced that most of the CEOs have a Master of Business Administration from several disciplines. In today’s scenario, if you want to do something really out of passion, then online degrees could be the perfect fit. And through Online Manipal, learners can get degrees from Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal University Jaipur, and Sikkim Manipal University.  

If you are really giving it a thought, do visit our courses to explore more.