CEOs of world-famous companies are always at the top of the list of the world’s richest people. While some CEOs are the founders of these companies, some are only chairman of the executive board. Despite their billion-dollar fortunes, the CEOs of these companies are known for their long working hours. While some work 16 hours a day, there are even managers who work 120 hours a week. Moreover, as their companies grow, the working hours of these CEOs increase.
A new study outlined in Harvard Business Review has revealed how key executives use their time to stay productive and efficient. According to the report, CEOs work an average of 9.7 hours on weekdays. They also spend an average of four more hours at work per weekend. Managers spend approximately two and a half hours a day on work, even on holidays. According to the report, a CEO devotes 62.5 hours a week to work.
Tesla CEO Musk works 120 hours a week!
The biggest example of CEOs who work this long is undoubtedly Elon Musk. Musk, the richest person in the world with a fortune of $244 billion, is the CEO of companies such as electric car manufacturer Tesla, space transportation company SpaceX, social media platform X.com and The Boring Company. Musk has also been the head of internet payment giant Paypal in the past. Musk states at every opportunity that he loves working. He has stated in the past that he is interested in working close to 120 hours a week. According to a tweet by Musk, if a person wants to change the world, they must work more than 80 hours a week.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, which includes social media applications such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, has more reasonable working hours than Musk. Zuckerberg, who gets up at 8 every morning, announced that he does not spend more than 60 hours a week in the office. However, Zuckerberg stated that he sometimes deals with business outside of the office.
Jeff Bezos, founder of retail giant Amazon, works 80 to 100 hours a week. Although he gets up early every day, Bezos stays at home until 10. The billionaire starts work at 10 and works until late at night.
16.5 hours of work a day…
The title of hardest-working CEO may belong to Steve Squeri, who heads the credit card brand American Express. Squeri wakes up at 5.45 every morning, leaves his house within 15 minutes and starts working in his car while on his way to work. After completing his shift at the office, Squeri goes home and answers e-mails from his customers until 22:30 every evening. Squeri “We are a membership model. How can I ignore these emails?” says. The 64-year-old CEO has been at the head of the company since 2018.
There are even those who sacrifice their sleep
So why do they work so hard? In these multibillion-dollar companies, managers are constantly in conversation with employees and customers to ensure that the wheels are turning correctly and to evaluate business strategies. In fact, according to research by Harvard Business Review, CEOs spend nearly 70 percent of their time at work in meetings. That’s why they can attend dozens of meetings during the day. Most meetings last longer than an hour. According to a study, CEOs frequently travel for these meetings because they attach importance to face-to-face meetings. These meetings with customers and employees are among the main reasons why CEOs work long hours.
That’s why it’s common for CEOs to work on holidays. For example, Tim Armstrong, CEO of the internet company AOL, admits that he has to be at work even when he spends time with his family during the holidays. American Express CEO Squeri also states that he works 24/7 and adds that he devotes at least 5 hours to work on Sundays.
Some even sacrifice their sleep for a managerial position. For example, Sergio Marchionne, former CEO of automotive giant Fiat Chrysler, explained that while he attended meetings in Europe during the day, he often had to stay up at night to attend meetings in the USA via conference method.
Sources: Insider, Forbes, Balance, LinkedIn, Medium