S&P 500 Study Shows Dark Personality Trait Could Be Key to CEO Success

Newsweek

19-06-2025

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In the cutthroat world of corporate leadership, being strategically cunning may pay off—literally.
Researchers at the University of Florida's Warrington College of Business recently published a study that found that CEOs that exhibit Machiavellian personality traits earn more.
Machiavellianism is marked by manipulativeness, a drive to win at all costs and a focus on personal gain—all traits that help CEOs earn more, according to the research published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
A file photo of a man in a suit holding a handful of cash.
A file photo of a man in a suit holding a handful of cash.
Nature/Getty Images
The study, led by management researcher professor Aaron Hill of the University of Florida, examined links between CEO personality traits and executive pay outcomes using a longitudinal sample of S&P 500 firms.
Unlike traditional self-assessment surveys, the team enlisted trained clinical psychologists to analyze publicly available video recordings of top executives, identifying traits associated with Machiavellianism.
"Broadly, we find that CEO Machiavellianism positively relates to their own pay, their severance pay and the pay of their C-Suite or top management team," said Hill.
"Our findings suggest that in this way, CEOs higher in Machiavellianism may pay their top management team members more to set up their own pay raises."
What is Machiavellianism?
Machiavellianism is a psychological term that takes its name from Niccolò Machiavelli, a 16th-century Italian diplomat, philosopher and political theorist.
His most famous work, The Prince, offered pragmatic, and often controversial, advice to rulers on how to maintain power.
Machiavelli advocated for realism over idealism, famously suggesting that it is "better to be feared than loved."
The trait is one part of what psychologists call the "Dark Triad" of personality traits, alongside narcissism and psychopathy.
While Machiavellianism is often portrayed negatively, it isn't always; in some environments, especially competitive or high-stakes ones like corporate leadership or politics, a degree of Machiavellian thinking can be a positive.
Researchers found that Machiavellian CEOs were significantly more likely to structure compensation, both for themselves and others, in ways that maximized personal gain. They often boosted the pay of their top teams, a move the researchers believe is used strategically to elevate their own salary benchmarks.
Read more
Map shows US states with the most psychopaths and other dark personalities
Map shows US states with the most psychopaths and other dark personalities
The pattern was clear: the more Machiavellian the CEO, the more successful they were at boosting their total compensation, including severance terms and bonuses. Higher management team members also tended to earn more when working under such CEOs.
Hill said the findings highlight an important governance blind spot: the role of personality in executive pay decisions.
He concluded: "Hopefully, as managers, we can acknowledge those and work to accentuate the positives and limit the potential downsides—in effect, take advantage of the positives and work to mitigate the negatives."
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Reference
Recendes, T., Hill, A. D., Aime, F., Ridge, J. W., & Petrenko, O. V. (2025). Chief executive officer (CEO) Machiavellianism and executive pay. Journal of Applied Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001290