Wharton School Notable Alumni | 14 Famous MBAs
In 1881, the Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania laid its foundation and since then, it has produced great leaders to create a list of remarkable alumni.
The alumni of Wharton school have been members of royal clubs which helped them witness and practice diversity as well as networking. The Wharton school MBAs enlisted here contains the calibre of professionals that the school produces.
The excellent network is considered among the biggest perks offered by a top MBA degree. Research suggests that more than half of MBAs get their first jobs after graduating through networking.
A top MBA is not only a doorway to an amazing professional life but also an opportunity to make bonds with people from different backgrounds and work closely with talented peers.
The Wharton School comprises a spectacular track record with notable MBAs, among which some introduced revolution while others participated in the world’s most eminent corporations such as Pepsi, Google, and Phillips.
Peter Lynch (MBA Class of 1968)
Investor, mutual fund manager and philanthropist
The American investor grabbed the spotlight as the manager of ‘Fidelity investments’ Magellan Fund. The fund had worth $18 million when Peter took over in 1977, and worth $14 billion under assets in 1990 when he left.
His impressive books and paper on investing aided to solidify his reputation as an icon on the markets.
Sundar Pichai (CEO of Alphabet Inc.)
Sundar Pichai incepted his long relationship with one of the world’s most dominant companies, Google, in 2004. He secured the position of CEO in 2015. Now, he is also the CEO of Alphabet Inc, Google’s parent company.
Mortimer Zuckerman (Co-founder of Boston Properties and media publisher )
Mortimer Zuckerman has done impeccably in both media and real estate. He has co-founded Boston Properties, one of the USA’s largest real estate investment trusts.
As a publisher, media owner, and editor, his properties have contained the US News & World Report, New York Daily News and The Atlantic.
John Sculley (MBA Class of 1963)
Tech investor and former CEO of Pepsi
Not one, but two of the world’s leading companies have been piloted internationally by the marketing legend John Sculley. In the ‘Cola Wars’ of the 1980s, John led Pepsi into battle against Coke. He supported Apple during its growth into a multi-billion dollar entity.
Ronald Perelman (MBA Class of 1966)
Banker, investor, and philanthropist
Ronald has been recognized as “one of the greatest living business minds” by Forbes Magazine. As the complete owner of MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated, his holdings include military gear to makeup, and he’s of the world’s largest philanthropic donors.
Fred Wilson (MBA Class of 1987)
Venture capitalist
Fred Wilson is a Venture capitalist who has co-founded Union Square Ventures, a heavily invested company in prominent social media entities like Twitter, Tumblr, and Kickstarter.
“AVC: musings of a VC in NYC” is his blog on which he shares thoughts on venture capitalism.
Ann McLaughlin Korologos (MBA Class of 1988)
Former US Secretary of Labor
She is the former US Secretary of Labor, who has also been part of the boards in many household-name companies, such as Microsoft and Kellogg’s. She is also a recognized art patron.
Alfred C. Liggins III (Owner of Radio One)
Under the leadership of Alfred Liggins’, Radio One became the largest African-American owned broadcasting entity in the USA.
Radio one has millions of listeners across its 70 stations.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (MBA Class of 1983)
Author
This man is the pundit on unpredictability, recognized as a statistician, analyst and former trader.
He has published a series of five books on the subject, including The Black Swan, named as one of the 12 most influential books since world war I, by Sunday Times.
Rakesh Gangwal (MBA Class of 1979)
Owner of IndiGo
Rakesh Gangwal rose the company’s $800 million to $8 billion in just three years after taking over as the CEO of US Airways. On today’s date, he is the co-founder and owner of the airline IndiGo.
Laura Lang (MBA Class of 1980)
Businesswoman and former CEO of Time Inc.
Laura Lang has been acknowledged as one of Forbes’ 20 most powerful businesswomen in 2012, she has served as CEO of Time Inc. and world branding agency Digitas.
Now she owns a seat at the advisory board of the Tufts University Entrepreneurial Leadership Program, and the board of directors for Benchmark Electronics and Nutrisystem.
Ruth Porat (MBA Class of 1987)
CFO for Alphabet Inc.
Ruth Porat was recognized as the most dominant woman on wall street when she served as CFO and executive vice president of Morgan Stanley until May 2015.
Now she serves as CFO for Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc. She earned the ninth position on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list in 2018.
Gerard Kleisterlee (MBA class of 1991)
Chairman of Vodafone
Gerard Kleisterlee is a Dutch businessman and trained electronic engineer, significantly known for his leadership of Philips from 2001 to 2010.
When others failed, his far-reaching reforms and optimizations succeeded and Philips reborn as a hi-tech and fast-growing modern company. He is the Chairman of Vodafone.
Robert Crandall (MBA Class of 1960)
Former chairman of American Airlines
The icon of the Airline industry Robert Crandall was Chairman of American Airlines from 1985 to 1998.
He is known for his invention of the Frequent Flyer loyalty program.