The Guardian | Privately educated CEOs seen as ‘safer bet’ by investors, study finds by Joanna Partridge

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A University of Surrey study shows that investors treat chief executives who attended private schools as a “safer bet,” resulting in roughly 5 % lower stock‑market volatility for those firms, even though the privately‑educated CEOs do not outperform, take fewer risks, make better decisions, or handle crises more effectively than their state‑educated peers. The perceived lower risk diminishes over time as more information about a leader’s performance becomes available and disappears in companies subject to greater analyst scrutiny or higher institutional ownership, indicating that market participants often confuse elite background with competence despite no measurable impact on corporate outcomes.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/may/14/privately-educated-ceos-safer-bet-investors-class-bias-study

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