The 2024 Forbes Entrepreneurial CMO 50 List: By The Numbers

When considering what can be divined from amongst the aggregate of the 50 marketing leaders recognized on this, the third annual Forbes Entrepreneurial CMO list, we must acknowledge that it reflects not just those recognized but also the pool of hundreds of nominees (this year seeing the greatest number of same) submitted from around the world and across categories and industries.

Here’s some of what we found interesting.

On The Companies They Steward: Category Commonalities.

• The 2024 list reflects multiple categories with multiple honorees, including Airlines, Alcoholic Beverages, Beauty, Insurance, and Pharmaceuticals. Perhaps less surprising, the list also includes multiple marketers from CPG, Fashion/Apparel, Financial Services/Fin Tech, and QSR.
• This includes the chief marketers from Delta, Molson Coors, Ulta Beauty, Liberty Mutual, Pfizer, Coca-Cola, Gucci, Visa, Chime, and Chipotle.
• Marketers from B2C enterprises make up 70% of the 2024 list, with B2B (or at least those that are B2B2C) representing 30%. This year, there were no DTC brand leaders recognized, a departure from recent years.
• 76% of this year’s list includes marketers from publicly traded enterprises, with the balance representing privately-held companies.

The Vast Majority Represent Companies That Are US-headquartered and Global.

• 80% of the marketers recognized come from companies with U.S. headquarters, 20% from those based internationally.
• Over 90% market brands considered to be global—or where their products/services are available on a multinational basis.

A Few Factoids.

• 62% of the marketers recognized on this 2024 list are women, and 32% are people of color.
• Proving that entrepreneurial culture is alive and well in centuries old businesses, nearly 50% of the list is made up of marketers from companies founded at least 75 years ago. 32% of the companies represented on the list are over 100 years old.
• Founded in 1786, at 238-years-old, the Molson part of Molson Coors is the oldest company represented, and Rare Beauty, founded only 5 years ago in 2019, is the youngest.
• The same couple, Doug and Susie Tompkins, are the founders of two of the companies represented by their chief marketers on this year’s list, The North Face and ESPRIT.

You can see the complete 2024 Forbes Entrepreneurial CMO list here.

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