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Survey names LinkedIn chief top-rated CEO, Zuckerberg falls to No. 9

Jeff Weiner leaves all other US chief executives in the dust by garnering a 100 percent approval rating in employee-driven Glassdoor survey.

Dara Kerr Former senior reporter
Dara Kerr was a senior reporter for CNET covering the on-demand economy and tech culture. She grew up in Colorado, went to school in New York City and can never remember how to pronounce gif.
Dara Kerr
2 min read
LinkedIn's CEO Jeff Weiner (left) chats with Demo chairman Matt Marshall at the 2010 Demo conference. Josh Lowensohn/CNET

Leading a professional networking site must mean you know your p's and q's and have some social grace. So, it makes sense that LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner is beloved by his employees.

In fact, Weiner is so well-liked that he has been crowned the highest-rated CEO for 2014.

The honors come via hundreds of thousands of employee surveys across all industries submitted to company-review site Glassdoor. Every year, the site tallies up the votes and publishes the rankings of the 50 highest-rated CEOs in the US for companies with at least 1,000 employees (see full list below).

This year, Weiner received a "perfect 100 percent approval rating," according to Glassdoor. Last year's winner, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, fell several spots to No. 9 overall -- down from a 99 percent approval rating to 93 percent.

Weiner took the helm of LinkedIn in 2009, after being Yahoo's Network Division executive vice president. He has since seen the professional networking site go public and swell its member base to 259 million users. Over the past year, Weiner has focused on new strategies like emphasizing content and mobile apps to attract a wider variety of business users. In December, LinkedIn was also voted the No. 3 best company to work for in the US.

"The CEO is what helps spread the culture. He emphasizes culture," one LinkedIn associate Web developer wrote of Weiner on Glassdoor. "Colleagues are top notch as developers, collaborators, and acquaintances. Leadership is excellent. Perks are amazing," another LinkedIn employee wrote.

Of the Top 50 highest-rated CEOs, 14 come from tech companies, including Google's Larry Page in 10th place, Salesforce's Marc Benioff in 12th place, Apple's Tim Cook in 17th place, Amazon's Jeff Bezos in 32nd place, and more. This makes tech the top industry represented on the list. Last year, 20 tech CEOs made the list, but a few have dropped off, such as Oracle's Larry Ellison and Dell's Michael Dell.

This year, a female tech CEO also made the Top 50: Yahoo's Marissa Mayer squeezed in at No. 49 with a 79 percent approval rating.

"Marissa is cool and taking bold steps to move the needle," a Yahoo senior developer wrote on Glassdoor. "Presently she has tail winds beneath her wings. Good for general morale."

While Glassdoor's list is a survey, it's voluntary rather than scientific. The figures come from employees who actively go to Glassdoor's site to rate their companies and bosses. Glassdoor said this Top 50 CEOs report includes only CEOs who received at least 100 employee ratings over the past year. The average CEO approval rating on Glassdoor for all CEOs is roughly 65 percent to 70 percent.

Glassdoor