Study: Red Hat is Raleigh’s most likable CEO but city’s top execs score low overall

A new survey based on information gathered from social media, news and executive review web sites finds that Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst is the most likable CEO in Raleigh.

However, capital city CEOs rate lower than the national average.

Whitehurst received a score of 89.8 out of a possible 100, according to the website Owler.

Overall, Raleigh CEOs received a score of 64.3 compared to the national average of 68.3.

“Owler’s analysis, which parsed thousands of CEO reviews from site users, uncovers what people truly think of CEOs in Raleigh and throughout the country,” says the website which focuses on what it calls “crowd sourced information.” The company says it has an “active community” of more than one million business professionals.

Percona CEO Peter Zaitsev ranked second in Raleigh at 85.3.

Third spot went to C. Howard Nye of Martin Marietta.

Durham was not among the cities surveyed, according to Owler’s report.

The top eight:

#1: Jim Whitehurst, Red Hat

Score: 89.8 /100

#2: Peter Zaitsev, Percona

85.3 /100

#3: C. Howard Nye, Martin Marietta

79.2 /100

#4: Colin Shannon, PRA Health Sciences

68.2 /100