CEO Prize
A lifetime achievement award for outstanding management.
A resurgence of American entrepreneurship is critical to ensure economic prosperity. As part of our goal to encourage this renewal, we’ve created the CEO Prize for Excellence in Business Leadership, an annual award which honors a living CEO whose work demonstrates, over a long period of time, a combination of talent, vision, focus and commitment, thereby producing exceptional shareholder returns for decades.
By recognizing business leaders we highlight the successes we try to inspire in our users.
A first of its kind.
This is the first prize of its kind to focus on performance. It’s designed to reward an exceptional managerial record over a very long period of time. It’s not based on vague ideas about leadership, charisma and other subjective attributes, but recognizes excellence in business leadership as evidenced by the data, a reflection of talent, vision, focus and achievement.
The 2022 Honoree
W. Nicholas Howley
W. Nicholas Howley is the Founder and Executive Chairman of TransDigm Group Inc., a leading producer of a wide array of highly-engineered aerospace and other industrial components. The company has acquired sixty-five proprietary aerospace businesses since its formation in 1993. Nick is currently on the Board of Directors of TransDigm Group Inc., Perimeter Solutions, and Consolidated Precision Products. Additionally, he is on the Warburg Pincus IBS Advisory Board, as well as the investment advisory boards for CapitalWorks LLC, Bratenahl Capital Partners and Cohesive Capital.
The award was presented in Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 19, 2022.
A non-profit will also be recognized. As part of the prize, we’ll also celebrate a non-profit—selected by the winner—whose mission aligns with the values represented by the Singleton Foundation: financial literacy and entrepreneurship. This non-profit will receive a gift of $250,000.
The 2022 Selection Committee
The prize selection is determined by a select committee of prominent CEOs and investors. It is led by Will Thorndike, whose 2013 book, The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success, helped inspire the prize.
Will Thorndike
Founder, Housatonic Partners
Author, The Outsiders
Kelly Granat
Co-CIO,
Lone Pine Capital
Bob Peck
FPR Partners
Rob Small
Partners – Stockbridge
Todd Combs
Investment Officer, Berkshire Hathaway,
CEO, GEICO
Steve Blass
Chief Investment Officer,
Ashe Capital
The 2019 Honoree
William P. Stiritz
The first CEO Prize was awarded to William (Bill) P. Stiritz, who served for more than 35 years in executive positions with Ralston Purina, including as Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer from 1981–1997. He served as Chairman of Energizer and Ralcorp and CEO Agribrands and Post Holdings (current Chairman). He has also served on numerous company boards.
Over a 40-year period, Mr. Stiritz produced a 20 percent return for shareholders. It’s an extraordinary record.
Stiritz and his wife, Susan, have created two distinguished professorships at Washington University in St. Louis, where Susan is an Associate Professor of Practice at the Brown School.
Mr. Stiritz selected the non-profit organization Paraquad to receive a gift of $250,000. Located in St. Louis, MO, Paraquad has a mission to empower people with disabilities to increase their independence through choice and opportunity. The organization was selected by Mr. and Mrs. Stiritz because of their work to promote economic freedom and financial empowerment for St. Louis’s disabled community.
A Mind Of Their Own
This short, powerful film introduces you to the eight remarkable, individualistic CEOs profiled in The Outsiders.
From the book’s dust jacket: “Humble, unassuming, and often frugal, these “outsiders” shunned Wall Street and the press, and shied away from the hottest new management trends. Instead, they shared specific traits that put them and the companies they led on winning trajectories.” In “A Mind of Their Own”, you’ll come to understand these exceptional traits, methods and mindsets—striking for their consistency and relentless rationality.
Our Inspiration
The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success, by Will Thorndike, has resonated powerfully among CEOs and investors. Acclaimed by critics and called by Warren Buffett “an outstanding book,” The Outsiders has been described by Forbes Magazine as one of the most important business books in America. The CEOs profiled are: Tom Murphy of Capital Cities, Henry Singleton of Teledyne, Bill Anders of General Dynamics, John Malone of TCI, Katharine Graham of The Washington Post Co., Bill Stiritz of Post Holdings, Dick Smith of General Cinema, and Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway.
