Engineers, economists and lawyers: the educational triangle of Ibex 35 CEOs in Spain
Only 8 of the 35 Ibex 35 CEOs in Spain studied at public universities. Engineers, economists and lawyers dominate the top jobs while business degrees vanish. Networking is the real
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The academic profile of Ibex 35 CEOs: engineering, economics and law dominate the podium
An analysis of Spain's Ibex 35 top executives reveals an almost monochrome pattern: engineers (11), economists (7) and law graduates (7) account for 25 of the 35 chief executives. Business Administration, the go-to degree for management, is conspicuously absent. The awkward question: does the degree matter, or the club you belong to?
The numbers behind private-university dominance
Of those 35 CEOs, only 8 studied at public universities. The rest came from elite private institutions: IE, ESADE, ICADE or CUNEF. That is no coincidence. These institutions are, in the words of those who know the environment, "networking clubs with lace curtains." You don't learn more there than at the Complutense, but you sit next to the CEO's son, intern at your brother-in-law's company and join the scholarship circle that ends up on boards.
More than education, connections
The thesis is reinforced by the near-total absence of business administration degrees, a massively popular program that does not forge elite ties. Positions of power are not won by what you know, but by who you know. The real master's degree is networking, and those universities sell it as part of the package.
The debate, however, comes with a caveat: real power does not always rest with the executive chairman. Some CEOs are mere front men; the reference shareholder, like Florentino Pérez at ACS versus Josu Jon Imaz at Repsol, is the one pulling the strings. The CEO's education can be window dressing if someone else is really in charge.
With these figures, Ibex inbreeding is no myth. Next time an executive talks about merit, remember that the path started much earlier, on a campus with a fancy surname.
Related debates in the forum
An analysis of Spain's Ibex 35 top executives reveals an almost monochrome pattern: engineers (11), economists (7) and law graduates (7) account for 25 of the 35 chief executives. Business Administration, the go-to degree for management, is conspicuously absent. The awkward question: does the degree matter, or the club you belong to?
The numbers behind private-university dominance
Of those 35 CEOs, only 8 studied at public universities. The rest came from elite private institutions: IE, ESADE, ICADE or CUNEF. That is no coincidence. These institutions are, in the words of those who know the environment, "networking clubs with lace curtains." You don't learn more there than at the Complutense, but you sit next to the CEO's son, intern at your brother-in-law's company and join the scholarship circle that ends up on boards.
More than education, connections
The thesis is reinforced by the near-total absence of business administration degrees, a massively popular program that does not forge elite ties. Positions of power are not won by what you know, but by who you know. The real master's degree is networking, and those universities sell it as part of the package.
The debate, however, comes with a caveat: real power does not always rest with the executive chairman. Some CEOs are mere front men; the reference shareholder, like Florentino Pérez at ACS versus Josu Jon Imaz at Repsol, is the one pulling the strings. The CEO's education can be window dressing if someone else is really in charge.
With these figures, Ibex inbreeding is no myth. Next time an executive talks about merit, remember that the path started much earlier, on a campus with a fancy surname.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (11 replies).
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