Report: Hot CEOs Bolster Stock Values, Earn Better Salaries A new study claims that attractive CEOs are more likely to garner higher stock returns, negotiate more lucratively and take home bigger paychecks.
By Geoff Weiss
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Beauty, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder -- and in the eye of the shareholder, according to a new study out of the University of Wisconsin.
Economists Joseph T. Halford and Hung-Chia Hsu claim in a new research paper that attractive CEOs boost the stock value of their corporations and are more likely to engage in winsome negotiations. In turn, these executives are compensated far more generously than less attractive leaders.
In order to stack up the looks of 677 total CEOs, Halford and Hsu turned to anaface.com -- a site that gauges beauty based on facial geometry.
While discounting subjective criteria such as eye and skin color, the site scores users out of 10 according to a specific algorithm that "takes into account many factors from neoclassical beauty, modern research papers, and our own scientific studies," the company said.
Related: The Sexiest CEOs in the World
Of note, however, is that the site does not take into account body type, including key determinants like weight and height.
So who came out on top? Yahoo's Marissa Mayer landed in the top five percent of all CEOs with a score of 8.45, while Qualcomm chair Paul Jacobs came in at 8.19.
The average CEO scored 7.3 -- no small feat considering that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, arguably the world's most beautiful couple, received scores of 8.5 and 8.46, respectively.
But what do these numbers mean? According to Halford and Hsu, a one-point increase in beauty amounts to an $873,000 increase in total wage. Stock values also increase by 43 basis points, the study claims, once a good-looking CEO is appointed -- as opposed to an executive who is 10 percent less attractive.
