Marc Feigen
American business executive
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marc A. Feigen is an American business executive.[1] As the CEO of Feigen Advisors, he primarily advises CEOs in the Fortune 200, while training and educating new CEOs for the chief executive role.[2][3] Considered "America's leading coach for CEOs," Feigen has guided more than 35 chief executives of global companies, including Disney, Ford, and Netflix.[4][5] He is an expert on CEO succession, recommending that corporate board members be proactively prepared to find new CEOs.[6][7]
Feigen Advisors publishes the annual “New CEO Report,” which profiles new S&P 250 CEOs and has been cited in Fortune, HuffPost, and other news outlets.[8][9][10] The chairman of the firm's Advisory Board was Richard Parsons, the former chairman of Citigroup and the former chairman and CEO of Time Warner.[11]
A Harvard Business Review contributor, Feigen is quoted in The Wall Street Journal as an expert on corporate management.[12][13][14] Feigen advocates for companies to groom and choose more female CEOs, and for companies to consider co-CEOs as a way of "doubling capacity."[15][16][17] His research, published in Harvard Business Review, showed that co-CEOs delivered nearly 40 percent higher shareholder returns than the industry average across 87 public companies.[18][19] In March 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that then-Netflix CEO (and current executive chairman) Reed Hastings enlisted Feigen for succession planning help.[20] According to Australian Financial Review, Feigen spent months with co-CEO Greg Peters (who was COO at the time) training him to co-lead Netflix.[21]
Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of the Freakonomics book series, has called Feigen "an evangelist for co-CEOs."[22] In September 2023, Feigen appeared on Freakonomics Radio as an expert on the conditions that help predict whether co-CEOs and other business leaders will succeed.[23]
In 2017, Fortune profiled Feigen's work as a CEO advisor, calling him "the CEO whisperer" and sharing five of his management lessons.[24] The story praises Feigen for "lift[ing] the role of C-suite counselor to an entirely new dimension."[25] That same year, Feigen appeared on Wharton Business Radio to discuss the 2016 New CEO Report.[26] He also published an op-ed column in Investor's Business Daily explaining the report's key findings.[27]
Other activities
Feigen is the Executive Vice Chairman and co-founder of Cambridge in America.[28][29] He is also an Honorary Fellow at St John’s College (University of Cambridge) and co-chair of Every Vote Counts' executive board.[30][31]
Feigen teaches a course on the CEO's role at the Cambridge Judge Business School, where he is a member of the advisory board.[32][33] He also serves on the board of the Social Science Research Council.[34]
Education
Feigen is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (B.A. with honors, History); Cambridge University, (M.Phil., International Relations); and the Harvard Business School (MBA).[35]
Personal life
Feigen has two daughters: Julia and Annabel.[36]
Publications
- "Dick Parsons: A Tribute To A Man Of Principle And Honor." Black Enterprise, 2025[37]
- "Is It Time to Consider Co-CEOs?" Harvard Business Review, 2022[38]
- "Look to Military History for Lessons in Crisis Leadership." Harvard Business Review, 2020[39]
- "The CEO's Guide to Retirement." Harvard Business Review, 2018[40]
- "The Boardroom's Quiet Revolution." Harvard Business Review, 2014[41]
- "Ensuring CEO Succession Ability in the Boardroom" chapter in The Talent Management Handbook, McGraw Hill, 2011[42]
- Real Change Leaders, Times Books, 1996[43]