Jensen Huang Named the Most Popular CEO in the U.S. with 96% Employee Approval
In a recent survey conducted by the professional social network Blind in August 2023, a rating of approval for 103 CEOs of major companies was determined. The survey involved 13,171 employees from these companies in the United States. At the top of the list was Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, with an astonishing 96% approval rating from respondents.
Jensen Huang’s popularity comes as no surprise, considering his charismatic personality and the incredible success of his company, NVIDIA. This year, NVIDIA has captured up to 95% of the AI server market by various estimates, and its stock price has tripled since the beginning of 2023, resulting in a market capitalization of $1.16 trillion. Last summer, when NVIDIA fell short of profit expectations, and the economy was stagnating, Huang assured employees that there would be promotions within the company rather than layoffs. One survey participant said, “He foresaw the AI fever over a decade ago. I completely trust him.” Not to mention, Jensen is known for his iconic leather jacket.
Tim Cook from Apple holds the fourth position with an 83% approval rating. Since 2011, Cook has led Apple’s remarkable growth, making it the largest company in the world by market capitalization, which now stands at $2.81 trillion. Despite Apple’s call for employees to be in the office at least three days a week, which has caused a negative reaction after nearly two years of remote work, employees remain loyal to Cook. His voluntary 40% pay cut this year has seemingly bolstered his rating.
In second place behind Huang is Doug McMillon from Walmart, with an 88% approval rating, and in the honorable third place is Nikesh Arora from Palo Alto Networks, with an 84% approval rating. Rounding out the top five leaders is Ali Ghodsi, CEO of Databricks, a company focused on data and artificial intelligence, with an 83% approval rating. Lisa Su from AMD also made a notable appearance in the list, securing the eighth spot with a 79% approval rating.
At the bottom of the list are companies that have significantly reduced their workforce this year. Linda Yaccarino, recently appointed CEO of X, received a 4% approval rating, just ahead of Evan Spiegel from Snap, with a 3% rating. John Riccitiello, who recently left his role as the head of Unity due to a controversy over new payment policies for game engines, scored a mere 2% approval.
Two CEOs, David Goeckeler from Western Digital and Erik Nordstrom from Nordstrom, can boast a 0% approval rating, the lowest in the survey. Western Digital laid off over 200 employees in June, while Nordstrom is also undergoing mass layoffs.
Overall, the CEO rating results are not impressive, with an average approval rating of only 32%. CEOs in e-commerce, financial services, and the high-tech industry appear to be the most popular. Based on the survey, job security has a significant influence on employee approval of their leaders. Only one CEO who laid off employees in recent years made it to the top ten. The CEO in question is the head of Autodesk, who reduced 2% of the global workforce in February while continuing to hire employees throughout the year.
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- I'm Vasyl Kolomiiets, a seasoned tech journalist regularly contributing to global publications. Having a profound background in information technologies, I seamlessly blended my technical expertise with my passion for writing, venturing into technology journalism. I've covered a wide range of topics including cutting-edge developments and their impacts on society, contributing to leading tech platforms.
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