Fabrizio Freda, president and chief executive officer, The Estée Lauder Companies, has been named to the prestigious Barron’s list of the World’s Best CEOs of 2019, specifically to the “growth leaders” category, for the second consecutive year.
 
30 top CEOs were announced to Barron’s World’s Best CEOs 2019 list. Freda and The Estée Lauder Companies join other top performing organizations and executives, including Mary Barra (General Motors), Jeffrey Bezos (Amazon.com), Warren Buffet (Berkshire Hathaway), Mary Dillon (Ulta Beauty), Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan Chase), Laurence Fink (BlackRock), Robert Iger (Walt Disney), Satya Nadella (Microsoft), Larry Page (Alphabet), François-Henri Pinault (Kering), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), among others.
 
The methodology for making Barron’s World’s Best CEOs list consists of several key criteria, among them revenue, earnings growth and shareholder returns. The 30 executives are not ranked, but they are separated into three groups: visionary founders, growth leaders, and change agents.
 
In Barron’s words, “The 30 leaders on this year’s list of the World’s Best CEOs have handled these challenges [of today] and others with great success.” Specifically about Freda, Barron’s wrote, “Over nearly a decade, the former Procter & Gamble executive has more than doubled operating profitability at family-controlled Estée Lauder.” Elaborating further, Barron’s said, “Marrying data and creativity, he has freshened the company’s digital strategy and boosted its brands’ desirability among China’s luxury-focused millennials.”
 
Barron’s list of the World’s Best CEOs of 2019 (in alphabetical order):
 
Mary Barra, General Motors
Jeffrey Bezos, Amazon.com
Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway
Gary Dickerson, Applied Materials
Mary Dillon, Ulta Beauty
Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase
Steve Easterbrook, McDonald’s
Richard Fain, Royal Caribbean Cruises
Henry Fernandez, MSCI
Laurence Fink, BlackRock
Reed Hastings, Netflix
Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin
Ma Huateng, Tencent Holdings
Robert Iger, Walt Disney
Craig Jelinek, Costco Wholesale
Dave Lewis, Tesco
Brian Moynihan, Bank of America
Satya Nadella, Microsoft
Shantanu Narayen, Adobe
Larry Page, Alphabet
François-Henri Pinault, Kering
James Robo, NextEra Energy
Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone Group
Arne Sorenson, Marriott International
Jeffrey Sprecher, Intercontinental Exchange
Lisa Su, Advanced Micro Devices
Jayshree Ullal, Arista Networks
Miles White, Abbott Laboratories
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook