FORTUNE ANNOUNCES 2018 BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR

Progressive CEO Tricia Griffith tops the list at No. 1

Today, FORTUNE announced that Progressive CEO Tricia Griffith is the 2018 FORTUNE Businessperson of the Year. FORTUNE weighed 10 financial metrics including 12-month and 36-month increases in profits and revenue, stock performance and total shareholder returns over the same period, and intangibles like business influence, strategic vision, and the impact of their leadership, to separate 20 standout CEOs from the rest.

Aric Jenkins writes for FORTUNE: “[Griffith] began her career at Progressive as a claims rep three decades ago. That makes her a rarity on two fronts: a CEO who started as an entry-level employee at the company she now leads, and one of just 24 female Fortune 500 chief executives. But she’s also something else: a CEO pulling off the remarkable evolution of a company in a relatively staid, stable industry. Progressive’s one-year and annualized three-year sales growth (at 20.2% and 11.4%, respectively) tops both Apple’s and Microsoft’s. The insurer’s stock is up nearly 50% over the past 12 months, and profits have more than doubled. In 2017 Progressive vaulted past Allstate to become the nation’s third-largest auto insurer, behind Geico and State Farm. And perhaps most impressively, at the end of the third quarter, the Mayfield, Ohio, company hit $30 billion in net premiums after reaching $20 billion just three years earlier—a remarkable growth rate for an enterprise that’s now 81 years old.”

Founded in 1937, Progressive was included on FORTUNE’s annual Best Places to Work list for the first time this year.

#FortuneBPOY

The top 10 2018 FORTUNE Businesspeople of the Year

Tricia Griffith, CEO, Progressive

Pat Gelsinger, CEO, VMware

Jensen Huang, CEO, Nvidia

Michelle Gass, CEO, Kohl’s

Kasper Rorsted, CEO, Adidas

Lisa Su, CEO, AMD

Walt Bettinger, CEO, Charles Schwab

François-Henri Pinault, CEO, Kering

Mary Dillon, CEO, Ulta Beauty