The most common age to retire in the United States may be 65, but many CEOs of America’s biggest companies are running them well above the age of retirement. According to the Madison Trust research team, 17.8% of the five hundred CEOs who are currently in control of Fortune 500 companies will have reached the age of 65 or older by the beginning of 2024. Mandatory retirement ages have become a thing of the past with executives working into their seventies and eighties. What is the average age of the Fortune 500 CEOs? The ages range from 39 to 93, and the average age of the CEOs is 59.2 years old. Interestingly the oldest and the youngest CEO are both worth many billions and sit near the top of the list of the richest people in the world. Check out the visual our research team created to see which Fortune 500 companies are run by the oldest, and the youngest, CEOs.
Who is the Oldest CEO of a Fortune 500 Company?
The oldest Fortune 500 CEO is Warren Buffet, who turned 93 in August of 2023. He is the only CEO on the Fortune 500 list over the age of 90. Buffet is the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, the seventh-ranking company on the Fortune 500 list with a revenue of $302 billion. He is one of the richest people in the world. As of January 2024, Warren Buffet has a net worth of $122 billion. How long has Warren Buffet been the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway? He has spent more than half of his life as the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, having held the position since 1970.
The 5 Oldest Fortune 500 CEOs
- Warren Buffett (1930): 93
- Roger Penske (1937): 87
- Robert Greenberg (1940): 83
- Albert Nahmad (1940): 83
- Seifollah Ghasemi (1944): 79
Who is the Youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 Company?
The youngest Fortune 500 CEO is Mark Zuckerberg, who is currently 39 and will be celebrating his 40th birthday on May 14, 2024. Zuckerberg is the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Meta Platforms, formerly Facebook. Meta Platforms ranks 31st on the Fortune 500 list with a revenue of $116.6 billion. Zuckerberg’s immense success since he started the social media site puts him at 16th on the world’s richest people list with a net worth of $64.4 billion. How long has Mark Zuckerberg been the CEO of Facebook, now Meta Platforms? He founded Facebook in 2004, it was initially called TheFacebook but the name was shortened the following year. The popular social media website was rebranded as Meta Platforms in 2021.
The 5 Youngest Fortune 500 CEOs
- Mark Zuckerberg (1984): 39
- Ernest Garcia III (1983): 40
- Toby Rice (1981): 42
- Sarah London (1981): 42
- Brian Chesky (1981): 42
How many CEOs are Over 65 years old?
The normal retirement age in the U.S. is 65, but early retirement isn’t a common occurrence among the Fortune 500 CEOs. We found that 89 (or 17.8%) of the five hundred CEOs on the list are 65 years or older, with 5.6% of them over the age of seventy. One CEO is over the age of 90 and is still running one of the wealthiest companies in the world. It wasn’t long ago that most companies had a mandatory retirement age policy, typically 65, but many have since dropped this policy to keep their aging CEOs at the helm for longer. According to CNBC, “retirement is a thing of the past for CEOs”. With so many of the CEOs of Fortune 500s nearing the average age of retirement, will more companies change the retirement policy to keep their trusted CEO for longer?
Fortune 500 CEOs in Each Age Bracket
- [30-39]: 1
- [40-49]: 39
- [50-59]: 222
- [60-69]: 210
- [70-79]: 24
- [80-89]: 3
- [90-99]: 1
Just because the CEOs of major companies are staying on the job into their 70s, and even 80s, doesn’t mean you have to! The earlier you start planning for retirement and using the many retirement tools at your disposal, the better, so why not start planning now? There are several ways to invest money into your future retirement. A Self-Directed IRA is a retirement account to which you contribute funds, allowing your retirement savings fund to grow over time. Unlike a standard IRA, a Self-Directed IRA allows you to invest in almost any type of alternative asset. Is it time you invested beyond Wall Street?
The Oldest Fortune 500 CEOs
|
Rank |
CEO |
Company Name |
DOB or Year Born |
Age (as of February 2024) |
|
1 |
Warren Buffett |
Berkshire Hathaway |
August 30, 1930 |
93 |
|
2 |
Roger Penske |
Penske Automotive Group |
February, 20 1937 |
87 |
|
3 |
Robert Greenberg |
Skechers U.S.A. |
1940 |
83 |
|
4 |
Albert Nahmad |
Watsco |
October, 15 1940 |
83 |
|
5 |
Seifollah Ghasemi |
Air Products & Chemicals |
1944 |
79 |
|
5 |
A. J. Teague |
Enterprise Products Partners |
1944 |
79 |
|
7 |
Stephen Schwarzman |
Blackstone |
February 14, 1947 |
77 |
|
8 |
Richard Adkerson |
Freeport-McMoRan |
1947 |
76 |
|
9 |
John F. Barrett |
Western & Southern Financial Group |
March 16, 1949 |
74 |
|
10 |
Albert Chao |
Westlake |
1949 |
74 |
|
11 |
Stanley Bergman |
Henry Schein |
1950 |
73 |
|
12 |
Richard Fairbank |
Capital One Financial |
September 18, 1950 |
73 |
|
13 |
Bob Iger |
Walt Disney |
February 10, 1951 |
73 |
|
14 |
Daniel P. Amos |
Aflac |
August 13, 1951 |
72 |
|
15 |
Jure Sola |
Sanmina |
1951 |
72 |
|
15 |
Hock Tan |
Broadcom |
1951 |
72 |
|
17 |
J. Patrick Gallagher Jr. |
Arthur J. Gallagher |
February 1, 1952 |
72 |
|
18 |
John Wren |
Omnicom Group |
July 1, 1952 |
71 |
|
19 |
Tom Kingsbury |
Kohl's |
1952 |
71 |
|
20 |
Larry Fink |
BlackRock |
November 2, 1952 |
71 |
The Youngest Fortune 500 CEOs
|
Rank |
CEO |
Company |
DOB or Year Born |
Age (as of February 2024) |
|
1 |
Mark Zuckerberg |
Meta Platforms |
May 14, 1984 |
39 |
|
2 |
Ernest Garcia III |
Carvana |
1983 |
40 |
|
3 |
Toby Rice |
EQT |
1981 |
42 |
|
3 |
Sarah London |
Centene |
1981 |
42 |
|
5 |
Brian Chesky |
Airbnb |
August, 29, 1981 |
42 |
|
6 |
Sumit Singh |
Chewy |
1979 |
44 |
|
6 |
Mario Harik |
XPO |
1979 |
44 |
|
6 |
Timothy Spence |
Fifth Third Bancorp |
1979 |
44 |
|
9 |
Brad Beckham |
O'Reilly Automotive |
1978 |
45 |
|
9 |
Hassane El-Khoury |
ON Semiconductor |
1978 |
45 |
|
11 |
Bom Suk Kim |
Coupang |
October 7, 1978 |
45 |
|
12 |
Matthew Meloy |
Targa Resources |
1977 |
46 |
|
12 |
Dennis Mathew |
Altice USA |
1977 |
46 |
|
12 |
J. Alexander Chriss |
PayPal Holdings |
1977 |
46 |
|
15 |
Avigal Soreq |
Delek US Holdings |
November 26, 1977 |
46 |
|
16 |
Jason Wells |
CenterPoint Energy |
December 7, 1977 |
46 |
|
17 |
Brian Evanko |
Cigna |
1976 |
47 |
|
17 |
Craig Desanto |
New York Life Insurance |
1976 |
47 |
|
17 |
Ezra Yacob |
EOG Resources |
1976 |
47 |
|
17 |
Domenic Dell'Osso |
Chesapeake Energy |
1976 |
47 |
|
20 |
Jack Dorsey |
Block |
November 19, 1976 |
47 |
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