Mark is Chairman of the Chief Executive Alliance. CEA focuses on CEO Readiness, providing executive coaching for three CEO cohorts: the current chief executive in the role, the C-Level executive candidates shortlisted in the Board’s succession plan to become the new leader, and preparation for outgoing CEOs and their teams. The Alliance also develops and convenes Senior Leadership Accelerators for up to 200 executives at Nasdaq and Stanford University, www.ChiefExecutiveAlliance.com
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Mark C. Thompson
The American Management Association and International Coaching Federation describe Mark as the World’s #1 CEO Coach, and in 2023 he became first coach to be inducted into The Thinkers 50 Coaching Hall of Fame (Coaching Legends) and Global Gurus Hall of Fame. With over 30 years’ experience scaling companies, Richard Branson recruited Mark to launch his Branson Entrepreneurship Centers and coach many of his Virgin-branded company co-founders and CEOs. Mark was executive coach for Waymo co-CEOs Tekedra
Mawakana and Dimitri Dolgov for Alphabet founder Larry Page. He coached Pinterest cofounders Ben Silbermann and Evan Sharp; Lyft cofounders Logan Green and John Zimmer; Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his Zoox CEO, Aicha Evans and cofounder Jesse Levinson; Luminar founder and CEO Austin Russell – more than 83 senior executive leadership development engagements.
Mark was CEO Coach for The World Bank’s Dr. Jim Yong Kim, along with Jim’s CEOs leading the International Finance Corp, International Monetary Fund and more than a dozen members of his global board. Mark was founding Chairman of Esurance, acquired by Allstate; founding investor & advisor to Supernatural, acquired by Meta; founding Chairman of Integration, sold to Silicon Labs; Chairman of mp3 player pioneer Rioport, acquired by Apple; founding Chairman of Interwoven, acquired by Hewlett Packard, where he’s served as coach to HP CEO Enrique Lores.
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Mark started his career in financial services with his mentor, Charles ‘Chuck’ Schwab as his Chief of Staff, Chief Communications Officer, then as Executive Producer of Schwab.com, the world’s first online trading and investment center.
He served on the financial securities committee of the World Economic Forum, and as adjunct faculty at WEF, Stanford University, John F. Kennedy University and Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership. He Co-Chaired the Institute of Coaching at the McLean School of Medicine at Harvard. Mark was cofounding advisor to Prof. Cliff Nass’ Stanford University Realtime Venture Design Lab, where Mark earned his second master’s degree and served as a visiting scholar at the Lab. Mark earned an M.A. from Stanford in 1998 and an MBA in management from Golden Gate University. He’s edited 22 books and written 3 bestsellers, including a NY Times bestseller, Admired, about Fortune’s Most Admired Companies. His upcoming book in 2024 is about CEO Readiness with Marshall Goldsmith and Byron Loflin at the Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence.
A native of Silicon Valley, California, Mark resides in Manhattan and Florida with his wife, Dr. Bonita Thompson, a bestselling author and professor of organizational performance and leadership at Vanderbilt University. Among his philanthropic interests, Mark has produced Broadway shows that have earned 11 nominations and five Tony Awards.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE ALLIANCE
www.ChiefExecutiveAlliance.com
CEO LIFE PLAN REVIEW: Mark is cofounder of Alan Mulally’s goal-setting Business Plan Review process that has been expanded to a Life Plan Review program tailored for each individual executive. LPR engages a community of more than 300 senior leaders in partnership with Dr. Marshall Goldsmith. www.LifePlanReview.com
NASDAQ Center for Board Excellence | View Here |
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HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW:
Mark has authored more than 500 CEO interviews that you’ll find on the Chief Executive Alliance website, including those that have become articles like this one on CEO succession. | View Here
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