CEOs in the U.S. - racial and ethnic diversity 2004-2023

Despite comprising of a smaller share of the U.S. population than African Americans or Hispanics, the most represented non-white U.S. CEOs were Asians/Indians. They comprised 49 percent of CEO positions at Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies in 2023. By comparison, 12 percent of CEOs at the time were African American.

The rise of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)

Investments in ESG have risen dramatically over last few years. In November 2022 there were approximately 400 billion U.S. dollars in ESG ETF assets worldwide, compared to 16 billion U.S. dollars in 2015. ESG measures were put in place to encourage companies to act responsibly, with the leading reason for ESG investing stated to be brand and reputation according to managers and asset owners.

Gender diversity

With the general acceptance of ESG in larger companies, there has still been a significant employment gap of women working in senior positions. In 2021, the share of women employed in companies worth over two billion U.S. dollars working as CEOs stood at five percent. Accordingly, the share of women working as a partner or principal at EY, one of the largest accounting firms in the world, was just over 25 percent in 2021.