Google employees love their boss — officially. Larry Page has been named the top CEO in the country in an employee survey conducted by Glassdoor, with a 97 percent approval rating.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg wasn’t far behind, ranking fourth, with 95 percent approval. Last year’s winner, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, showed he’s not perfect, sliding to No. 12 (with 93 percent approval) following a Kim Jong-Un-like 100 percent approval rating last year.
Page’s win makes it a sweep for Google — in December, the Mountain View tech giant was also named the best workplace in the U.S. in a separate Glassdoor survey.
Glassdoor’s third annual Highest Rated CEO award was based on employees’ anonymous, voluntary feedback on the popular job recruiting site. Silicon Valley tech companies, with reputations for high pay and lavish employee perks, scored high, placing eight CEOs among the top 25. The Bay Area at large had the best showing of any region, with 14 CEOs in the top 50, including a newcomer, Chevron’s John Watson at No. 16 (93 percent approval).
“Gaining the trust and approval of an entire workforce is one of the most difficult yet rewarding responsibilities for any leader,” Glassdoor CEO and co-founder Robert Hohman said in a statement.
The survey found vision and openness to be recurring traits among the top CEOs.
Page “hires the best and the brightest people and works on ambitious goals. You work on things that matter in the world. Larry has a great vision for the company,” one satisfied Google employee said.
A Facebook employee said, “Zuck is a legend in his own time, his Friday Q&A’s are can’t miss and it is awesome to hear him handle the tough unexpected questions.”
Other high-ranking Silicon Valley CEOs included 10th-place Tim Cook of Apple (94 percent); SolarCity’s Lyndon Rive (92 percent); Salesforce’s Marc Benioff (92 percent); Yelp’s Jeremy Stoppelman (91 percent); Intuit’s Brad Smith (91 percent); and Intel’s Brian Krzanich (90 percent).
At top: Google CEO Larry Page, seen in a 2012 file photo. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
