Who are the best CEO's in the world? 4 top fundies weigh in

For all the noise around markets, performance cycles and macro calls, great leadership still sits at the core of long-term shareholder value. 

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about a dual-CEO leadership model and cited research suggesting companies with co-CEOs have outperformed by 40% over time. 

It led me to reconsider how leadership translates into returns, but it also prompted a more fundamental question: who are the best CEOs operating today?

• What actually makes a great CEO?
• Is it longevity?
• Capital allocation?
• Culture?
• Execution?
• Or simply the ability to create value year after year, regardless of market conditions?

To explore this, I approached four well-respected fund managers: Tobias Yao (Wilson Asset Management), Marc Whittaker (IML), Qiao Ma (Munro Partners) and Maroun Younes (Fidelity); and asked them to nominate a CEO they believe represents true excellence.

Their answers span ASX mid-caps to US mega-caps, tech platforms to niche industrials, and each illustrates a different style of elite leadership.

What follows are their selections and the attributes that make these CEOs stand out.

Geoffrey Stewart, CEO of Supply Network Limited (ASX: SNL)

Selected by Tobias Yao, Wilson Asset Management

Who is the best CEO currently on the ASX?

It’s unfair - and often impossible to define the best CEO. However, one CEO who we believe is underrated is Geoff Stewart, CEO of Supply Network Limited (ASX: SNL). 

Today, Supply Network’s revenue is around $400 million with NPAT of $45 million.

What makes them great?

Vision, consistency, longevity. His ability to grow with the business and deliver outstanding results over more than 25 years at the helm is something that is truly unique on the ASX. 

He combines strategic vision, financial acumen and resilience with a very strong customer and service obsession. Supply Network’s success has been marked by consistent market share gains, predominantly driven by organic growth and the quality of its service proposition. 

Under his leadership, the company has placed a strong emphasis on employee training and mentorship, as well as investment in software and systems to ensure first-time customers receive timely and high-quality service.

What sets them apart from their peers?

Geoff Stewart’s conviction in the business model and the culture he has created to out-deliver competitors is what really sets him apart, and he has not strayed from that conviction over these years. 

Rather than pursuing growth through acquisitions, he has remained disciplined and focused on organic expansion, continuously reinvesting in the company’s distribution footprint, inventory, technology and people.

This conviction has allowed Supply Network to build deep expertise and a high-quality service proposition in a niche that has become increasingly complex. 

By sticking to a clearly defined model and relentlessly executing it, he has built durable competitive advantages that are difficult for peers to replicate.

Favourite quote or defining moment that captures their leadership style?

I am paraphrasing here, however, when people ask him whether he is ever tempted to acquire companies, he would say something along the lines of “our track record has been achieved organically.” 

This shows his disciplined, long-term approach to capital allocation and his belief in steady, repeatable execution and sustainable competitive advantages.

Marc Whittaker, IML

Quinton Hildebrand, CEO of Ridley Corporation (ASX: RIC)

Selected by Marc Whittaker, IML

Who is the best CEO currently on the ASX?

Quinton Hildebrand, CEO of Ridley Corporation

What makes them great?

Since his appointment in 2019, Quinton has made significant headway in improving the resilience and quality of the business. He has achieved this by focusing on building scale and stronger market positions in more stable and higher-margin end markets, including pet food and ingredients recovery. 

Some of this has been achieved through strategic M&A, including Oceania Meat Processors and the Carrick feed mill in Tasmania, both in 2024. Most recently, Quinton has led the business through the astute acquisition of IPF Distribution from Dyno Nobel, at a very good price. 

IPF Distribution’s fertiliser distribution business operates counter-cyclically and in an adjacent industry to Ridley Corp’s main business, so both should improve growth prospects and add resilience to earnings through the economic cycle. We think this is a very good move for the business and another good example of Quinton's strong capital allocation.

What sets them apart from their peers?

Quinton has the ability to very clearly articulate his priorities for the business and the economic and strategic arguments that underpin them. 

This comes through in his bold, targeted focus on geographical and market expansion, on-going operational efficiencies, the building of scale and resilience across the business divisions, and prudent investing in new adjacencies for future growth.

Favourite quote or defining moment that captures their leadership style?

“Climbing the wall of value” (referencing Ridley's focus on developing higher value end markets for its products).

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia (NYSE: NVDA)

Selected by Qiao Ma, Munro Partners

Who do you think is the best CEO globally?

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia.

What makes them great? 

In my opinion, Jensen is the hardest-working CEO with the best track record. As a founder of the largest company on earth, and one of the longest reining tech CEOs (32 years and counting), Jensen has created spectacular returns for shareholders - Nvidia shares compounded by around 37% per year since its IPO in January 1999.

Jensen possesses a rare blend of deep technical expertise and sharp strategic vision. Jensen was trained as an engineer but is an avid reader and deep thinker in business strategy. The engineer in him led Nvidia to develop arguably the best product in its field. 

The business strategist in him worked out which markets to enter, how to price its products, how to compete, and how to develop partnerships. He is a long-term thinker and consistently invests for the long term. 

In the mid-2000s, Jensen made a bold choice: push Nvidia to develop CUDA. Eventually, CUDA unlocked new markets for Nvidia, making their GPUs crucial for AI, deep learning, and data centres.

What sets them apart from their peers?

In my opinion, Jensen is also a thoughtful leader in people and culture. He is known as the best recruiter for Nvidia, convincing the best talent in computer graphics, semiconductor designs, manufacturing, and some of the smartest thinkers to join him. 

Jensen cultivates a culture that believes in relentless innovation. Its teams develop one chip per year, which is a speed unheard of in the broader chips industry. Nvidia’s organisational structure is flat and Jensen sits on the floor with key engineers. 

Even though Nvidia is the world's largest company, it moves with the agility and speed of a startup. Jensen is also a superb capital allocator. As an acquirer, he is disciplined - Nvidia rarely makes acquisitions and now sits on nearly US$60bn of cash.

Favourite quote or defining moment that captures their leadership style?

At Nvidia, we work at the "speed of light" (the only acceptable limit to progress is the laws of physics - not bureaucracy, hierarchy, or process).

Jayshree Ullal, CEO of Arista Networks (NYSE: ANET)

Selected by Maroun Younes, Fidelity International

Who do you think is the best CEO globally?

Jayshree Ullal, CEO of Arista Networks

What makes them great? 

Jayshree joined Arista as CEO in 2008, when the company had less than 50 employees. Today, the company has almost 5,000 employees and a market capitalisation of US$165 billion. Under her leadership, Arista has grown revenues at 35% per annum and net income at 50% per annum since its IPO. 

She has also taken Arista from start-up to one of the two most dominant players in its space, a critical supplier for today’s hyperscale cloud providers and AI players. She has been laser-focused on the customer and quality of offering, and people who have dealt with her have described her as humble and a pleasure to work with.

What sets them apart from their peers?

Jayshree is a well-balanced leader with multiple strengths. With a background in engineering, she has product and technical expertise; however, she’s also been able to combine her domain-specific knowledge with exceptional leadership skills, leading with humility. Not only has she shown entrepreneurial acumen by growing a start-up into a global powerhouse, but she has also balanced exceptional growth with profitability and return on investment.

Favourite quote or defining moment that captures their leadership style?

“As human beings, we all want to do a good job, be acknowledged and crave that appreciation. Treat your peers and team respectfully, cultivate their inner strengths and harness their full potential”.