According to abbreviationfinder, CEO is short for Chief Executive Officer. “Chief Executive Officer” is the English term for the position that we would call “General Manager” in German. The CEO is often also referred to as the executive member of a board of directors or, in principle, the person with the highest responsibility in a company. Sometimes, however, the word CEO is also used for several equal executives within a company. A synonym is “MD” or “Managing Director”. The term MD is more commonly used in the UK, while CEO is the American English term for the position.
What are the duties of a CEO?
The CEO is the member of a board of directors who is responsible for the economic success or failure of a company. He is also the one responsible for the actions and mistakes of everyone in the subordinate manager and department head. So he’s right at the top of the chain of leadership positions. He therefore makes the final decisions about the company’s approach and the activities of the individual department heads. He often takes on the role of representing the company to the outside world and is, so to speak, the “face” of the company. The daily tasks are varied and very different depending on the company. However, profit maximization and personnel organization are usually among the main goals in most companies.
The workplace: Where does a CEO work?
This position is usually filled in every larger company, just not always under this name. All managerial positions usually correspond at least in part to the duties of a CEO. However, they are usually also present in joint- stock companies.
How to become CEO
There are many different ways to become a CEO. The “classic way” is a degree in economics, i.e. management courses.
Some examples of this are:
- International Business Administration
- Business Administration/Economics
- international management
Nevertheless, there are also a lot of career changers among the MDs and CEOs. For example, some actually come from the legal field or the marketing field. However, promotion can also be achieved through training in the economic sector and subsequent further training and a promotion in the human resources department. So the possibilities here are very diverse.
CEO Salary – This is how much you can earn
Salaries vary greatly depending on the size of the company and the number of employees. It also influences whether the company is listed on the stock exchange or not. The annual earnings among the MD top earners usually range between around €100,000 and over €200,000 annually. Starting salaries for CEOs are around €80000-10000 per year. This means that MDs are among the best-paid workers in Germany and even in the world.
How much does a CEO make?
| starting salary | €90,000 |
| average salary | 150.000€ |
| top salary | > 200.000€ |
