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Here's What the Leaders of the 11 Most Successful U.S. Companies Studied in College Find out what types of degrees led Tim Cook, Mary Barra and other CEOs to the top of the ladder.

By Mark Abadi

entrepreneur daily

This story originally appeared on Business Insider

Chip Somodevilla / Getty

If you want to be the CEO of a powerful company, choosing the right college major is an important place to start.

We took a look at the leaders of the top 11 companies in this year's Fortune 500, and by and large, they each majored in a field directly related to industry of their future employer. And nearly all of the CEOs obtained post-graduate education after getting their bachelor's degree.

Here are the college degrees held by some of America's most powerful CEOs.

Related video: Is College Education Dead?

Twitter/William Cain

Steven Collis -- AmerisourceBergen

AmerisourceBergen is worth $17.31 billion.

B.S. in commerce -- University of the Witwatersrand

Honors bachelor of commerce -- University of the Witwatersrand

Paul Sancya / AP

James Hackett -- Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is worth $46.65 billion.

B.S. in finance -- University of Michigan

AP

Randall Stephenson -- AT&T

AT&T is worth $212.54 billion.

B.S. in accounting -- University of Central Oklahoma

Master of Accountancy -- University of Oklahoma

Bill Pugliano/Getty

Mary Barra -- General Motors

General Motors is worth $61.64 billion.

B.S. in electrical engineering -- General Motors Institute

M.B.A. -- Stanford University

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Larry Merlo -- CVS Health

CVS Health Corp. is worth $71.18 billion.

B.S. in pharmacy -- University of Pittsburgh

Twitter/WSJ

David Wichmann -- UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group is worth $202.57 billion.

B.S. in accounting -- Illinois State University

AP Photo/George Nikitin

John Hammergren -- McKesson

McKesson is worth $29.41 billion.

B.A. in business administration -- University of Minnesota

M.B.A. -- Xavier University

AP Photo/Richard Drew

Darren Woods -- ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil is worth $339.55 billion.

B.S. in electrical engineering -- Texas A&M University

M.B.A. -- Northwestern University

Getty/Justin Sullivan

Tim Cook -- Apple

Apple is worth $871.85 billion.

B.S. in industrial engineering -- Auburn University

M.B.A. -- Duke University

Paul Morigi / Stringer / Getty Images

Warren Buffett -- Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway is worth $443.69 billion.

B.S. in business administration -- University of Nebraska

M.S. in economics -- Columbia University

Paras Griffin/Getty Images for 2017 ESSENCE Festival

Doug McMillon -- Walmart

Walmart is worth $228.28 billion.

B.S. in business administration -- University of Arkansas

M.B.A. in finance -- University of Tulsa

Mark Abadi

Reporter

Mark Abadi is a reporter for Business Insider's news team. Before joining Business Insider, he completed a two-year Fulbright grant in Malaysia. He has also written for The Daily Tar Heel in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and The Skagway News in Skagway, Alaska.

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