Fast Facts About America's Bosses

By: Clay DillowThu Sep 18, 2008 at 5:01 AM

Looking back over 50 years of National Boss Days (October 16), workers everywhere may notice one thing has remained constant: The big money is concentrated at the top, and the bigs are mostly men. As for the talent? Well, we have nothing controversial to say. After all, we're up for promotion. Right, boss?

Enlarge

photographs by Malcolm Brown

More than 11 million people are employed in management occupations. 40% are women, but of the 12 companies (2.4%) have female CEOs.

Companies with at least three women on their board averaged a 16.7% return (45% better than the typical company).

Women hold 15% of all board seats at Fortune 500 firms.

According to a 2008 Yahoo survey, 43% of Americans don't like their bosses' management styles, while 55% agree that "people don't leave companies, they leave managers."

Average U.S. Income 2007

Across all occupations: $40,690
Management jobs: $96,150
For CEOs: $151,370
For S&P: $8.8 million

Last year, the highest-paid CEO was Oracle's Lawrence J. Ellison, who made $192.9 million (most of it stock options).

Of the 6,000-plus NYSE and Nasdaq-listed U.S. companies, 98 were run by CEOs under the age of forty at the end of 2006.

Just one -- Julie (age 33) Smolyansky (CEO of dairy-drink maker Lifeway Foods) -- was a woman.

32% of employees defy orders from their bosses although 86% of Americans give their superiors high marks.

11% of CEOs at S&P 500s hold Ivy League undergrad degrees. The most common alma maters? Harvard, Princeton and the U. of Wisconsin, each of which produced 12 chief execs.

Hallmark increased its line of National Boss Day cards by 90% in 2007.