New Delhi: It’s the favourite time of the year for students at elite B-schools—recruitment season. IIM Lucknow said two days ago that its entire batch of 446 students got jobs within three days. While MBA placements are typically about starting salaries and overseas postings, it does not always guarantee a rise to the top echelons of big firms. Indeed, how many of these students climb their way to head a large firm? While that may well be a multi-year project, it is easier to figure out how many chief executive officers of BSE 500 companies—India’s largest listed firms that make up 90% of its market capitalisation—are from elite B-schools. A B-school degree, it turns out, may not be a necessary condition to rise to the top, even among professional managers. Here are five charts that examine the educational qualifications of top CEOs.
