YPO (formerly Young Presidents' Organization) is an American-based worldwide leadership community of

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

s with approximately 29,000 members in more than 130 countries, according to the organization's 2019 YPO international fact sheet.

History

YPO was founded in 1950 in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, by manufacturer Ray Hickok, who was 27 years old when he became the head of his family's Rochester-based

Hickok Belt The S. Rae Hickok Professional Athlete of the Year award, known as the Hickok Belt, is a trophy that was awarded from 1950 to 1976 (27 years) to the top professional athlete of the year in the United States, and then re-established in 2012. It was ...

, a 300-employee company. The first meeting was held in 1950 at the

Waldorf Astoria New York The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schult ...

and was attended by Robert Wood Johnson III (Johnson & Johnson). Hickok and a small group of young presidents in the area began meeting regularly to share and learn from each other. According to the organization, its founding principle is that of education and idea exchange among peers. * The first non-U.S. chapter was created in 1956 in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. * The first YPO University was held in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and artificial island, man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the ...

. * YPO merged with its graduate organization, World Presidents Organization (WPO), in 2007. * The YPO Global Pulse survey launched in 2009, and is a quarterly economic confidence index that shares business insights from CEOs. * In 2010, Jill Belconis became the first woman elected to serve as YPO-WPO international chairman. * YPO formed an editorial partnership with

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

in 2012. *Elizabeth Zucker is the 2019-2020 chairman of the YPO Board of Directors.

Demographics

As of 2019, there are more than 450 chapters worldwide and more than 28,000 members.

Membership requirements

To qualify for membership, a person must have become, before age 45, the president or chairman and chief executive officer of a corporation of significance with a minimum revenue and minimum number of employees. The financial criteria differ for service companies and banks. Candidates must be typically recommended by two members of a local chapter and approved by a membership committee of each local chapter.

Notable members

Charles R. Schwab Charles Robert Schwab Sr. (born July 29, 1937) is an American investor and financial executive. He is the founder and chairman of the Charles Schwab Corporation. He pioneered discount sales of equity securities starting in 1975. His company be ...

, Founder & CEO,

Charles Schwab Corporation The Charles Schwab Corporation is an American multinational financial services company. It offers banking, commercial banking, investing and related services including consulting, and wealth management advisory services to both retail and instit ...

Peter Ueberroth Peter Victor Ueberroth (; born September 2, 1937) is an American sports and business executive known for his involvement in the Olympics and in Major League Baseball. A Los Angeles-based businessman, he was the chairman of the Los Angeles Olymp ...

, Chairman, 1984 L.A. Olympic Games, former Commissioner,

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

Bob Galvin Robert William "Bob" Galvin (October 9, 1922 – October 11, 2011) was an American executive. He was the son of the founder of Motorola, Paul Galvin, and served as the CEO of Motorola from 1959 to 1986. Motorola career Born in Marshfield, Wiscon ...

, Founder & former CEO,

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...

Jim Balsille James Laurence Balsillie (born February 3, 1961) is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He is the former Chair and co- CEO of the Canadian technology company Research In Motion (Blackberry), which at its prime made over $20B in sales annu ...

, Co-Founder & former Co-CEO, Research in Motion/Blackberry * Douglas Fairbanks Jr., founder of United Artists motion picture studio *

Christie Hefner Christie Ann Hefner (born November 8, 1952) is an American businesswoman. She was chairman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises from 1988 to 2009, and is the daughter of ''Playboy'' magazine founder Hugh Hefner. Early life Hefner was born in Chicago, ...

, former CEO, Playboy Enterprises *

Ray Lee Hunt Ray Lee Hunt (born 1943) is an American billionaire heir and businessman. Early life Hunt is the son of the late H. L. Hunt (1889–1974), founder of Hunt Oil Co. His parents married in 1957. Hunt's sisters include June Hunt, Swanee Hunt, and ...

, Hunt Oil * Brad Fuller, Founder and CEO, Lightspeed Voice *

Robert Wood Johnson II Robert Wood "General" Johnson II (April 4, 1893 – January 30, 1968) was an American businessman. He was one of the sons of Robert Wood Johnson I, the co-founder of Johnson & Johnson. He turned the family business into one of the world's l ...

, president of Johnson & Johnson *

James Michael Lafferty James Michael Lafferty (born 1963) is an American businessman, speaker, consultant, psychologist, and social media influencer. He is known for his story of starting as a fitness trainer in the Procter & Gamble Company in 1984 and progressing throu ...

, CEO

Fine Hygienic Holding Fine Hygienic Holding ( ar, الصحية القابضة مجموعة فاين , abbreviated FHH), is a wellness company with dual headquarters in Amman, Jordan and Dubai, UAE, founded in 1958 by Elia Nuqul. Its current CEO is James Michael Laf ...

and former CEO within

Procter and Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational Final good, consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter (industrialist), William Procter and James Gamble (industr ...

Coca Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

and

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco plc (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, England. As of 2019, it is the large ...

Leonard Lauder Leonard Alan Lauder (born March 19, 1933) is an American billionaire, philanthropist, art collector. He and his brother, Ronald Lauder, are the sole heirs to the Estée Lauder Companies cosmetics fortune, founded by their parents, Estée Lauder ...

, former CEO, Estee Lauder *

Heidi Zak ''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' (german: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre) and ''Heidi: How She Used ...

, Founder and CEO, Third Love *

Penny Pritzker Penny Sue Pritzker (born May 2, 1959) is an American billionaire businesswoman and civic leader who served as the 38th United States secretary of commerce in the Obama administration from 2013 to 2017. She was confirmed by a Senate vote of 97� ...

, US Secretary of Commerce * Muna AbuSulayman, Saudi businesswoman, activist and television personality *

Jim Pattison James Allen Pattison (born October 1, 1928) is a Canadian business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he holds the position of chief executive officer, chairman and sole owner of the Jim Pa ...

, a Canadian business magnate, investor and philanthropist *

Sheryl Sandberg Sheryl Kara Sandberg (born August 28, 1969) is an American business executive, billionaire, and philanthropist. Sandberg served as chief operating officer (COO) of Meta Platforms, a position from which she stepped down in August 2022. She is al ...

, COO Facebook *

Jonathan Zucker Jonathan Zucker (born December 23, 1971) is a political technology entrepreneur and campaign finance attorney best known as the founder of Democracy Engine, the first COO and second CEO of ActBlue and the founder of It Starts Today. History Zucker ...

, CEO 1-Chinaman Co. Ltd. * Mohnish Pabrai, Managing Partner Pabrai Investment Funds

YPO EDGE

YPO hosts its leadership gathering, YPO EDGE, each year in a different city. Previous host cities include: * 2019 ,

Cape Town, South Africa Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislature, legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the sec ...

* 2018 ,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Publications

Pat McNees, ''YPO: The First 50 Years''. (Orange Frazer Press, 1999).

References

External links

YPO Official Site
{{Authority control Non-profit organizations based in Texas International non-profit organizations Organizations established in 1950