Many business and technology leaders have something in common: While some hold advanced academic degrees and some have only technical know-how, none has a business degree.
Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, holds advanced degrees in science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne. Steve Jobs, Apple Computer's CEO, is a Reed College dropout. William Gates, Microsoft founder and CEO, is a Harvard dropout. Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Computers, is a University of Texas dropout. Dean Kamen, inventor and CEO of Segway, is a Worcester Polytechnic Institute dropout. Pierre Omidyar, an eBay founder, has a computer science degree from Tufts. Larry Page, co-founder of Google, has computer engineering degrees from the University of Michigan and Stanford University, and has completed work toward a doctorate in computer science. Sergey Brin, the other Google co-founder, has degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park, and Stanford, and is enrolled in a doctoral program in computer science at Stanford.
These people are known for their innovation, success, and leadership in starting and, in many cases, running productive companies.
Now, let's look at the U.S. automotive industry. Rick Wagoner, General Motors CEO, has an MBA from Harvard. Bob Nardelli, CEO of Chrysler, has an MBA from the University of Louisville. And Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford, has a master's degree in science as well as a Sloan Management (MIT) master's degree in management.