A record number of CEOs exited in 2024, with most executive transitions taking place when corporate reputation is in free fall, according to trend data from the Axios Harris Poll 100 reputation rankings.

Why it matters: This highlights the direct link between a CEO's performance and the company's reputation.

The big picture: 58 CEOs departed the S&P 500 last year, according to Russell Reynolds' Global CEO Turnover Index, and about half were forced out by activist investors.

• The leadership transitions have continued to keep pace in 2025, with new CEOs taking on positions at Spirit Airlines (No. 100) and UnitedHealth Group (No. 92).

By the numbers: Boeing's reputation score — which is measured based on trust, culture, ethics, citizenship, vision, growth, and products and services — dropped 11 points ahead of its latest CEO switch, while Starbucks saw a 6-point drop and CVS saw a 3-point drop.

• Following the appointment of a new CEO, most companies saw improvement in their reputations, with the exception of Boeing, CVS, and Walgreens.

State of play: Roughly 6 in 10 say a CEO affects their opinion of a company, but only 27% say the CEO's stances on social or political issues are a consideration, according to a recent Harris Poll survey.

Yes, but: While CEOs set a business' strategy, vision and values, most have low name recognition.

• About 3 in 10 say they know the name of the CEO of their favorite brand.

Between the lines: While the everyday CEO is a key messenger for employees, shareholders and policymakers, the general public doesn't pay them much mind.

• That is, unless they are considered polarizing.

Zoom in: Elon Musk's political involvement in the Trump administration appears to have affected the reputation of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, per this year's rankings.

• Tesla was ranked in the top 10 (No. 8) in 2021 and now ranks in the bottom (No. 95), while SpaceX slipped to No. 86.
• Tesla placed dead last in character, while placing near the bottom in areas like ethics and citizenship.

The bottom line: To the general public, a company's reputation is a reflection of how the CEO is performing.

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Corporate reputations have sharply declined since we first started running the Axios Harris Poll 100 rankings six years ago.

By the numbers: 46 of the 100 companies saw their reputation scores fall, with an average decline of 2.34 points.

• Since last appearing on the list, Tesla, SpaceX, UnitedHealth Group and JCPenney saw the sharpest decline in scores. (More on that below).
• Meanwhile, Dollar Tree and The Trump Organization saw the biggest jump in score, though they're still ranked as "fair" and "poor," respectively.

Zoom in: The top-performing companies per category include Costco for culture, Patagonia for ethics and citizenship, UPS for trust, Nvidia for vision and growth, and Microsoft for products and services.

• Delta Air Lines leads the aviation industry in reputation, while Patagonia leads apparel, Toyota leads automotive, Ulta Beauty leads consumer goods, Royal Dutch Shell leads energy, UPS leads logistics, Microsoft leads technology and Verizon leads the telecommunications industry.

The intrigue: Arizona Beverage Company (No. 7), Ulta Beauty (No. 27), SoFi (No. 41), DeepSeek (No. 46) and UFC (No. 82) made the list for the first time.

• Meanwhile, Patagonia, Samsung, Nvidia and Apple maintain a stronghold in the top 10 after appearing there for the second year in a row.
• 3M, Subaru and Mattel fell off the list this year, after ranking high at Nos. 2, 15 and 25 in 2024, respectively.

Keep reading... check out the entire list, plus the industry breakdowns.

The reputations of companies that stumbled into politics or the culture wars have been hit hardest since 2019, when the Axios Harris Poll 100 first launched the rankings.

Why it matters: Most of the biggest decliners have consistently made headlines for polarizing acts or operational failures.

By the numbers: Musk-owned companies Tesla and SpaceX are among those that have seen the sharpest declines, with both ranking in the bottom 10% for character, trust and citizenship.

• Boeing's reputation score has seen a 13-point decline since 2019, coming in at No. 90 for trust and ethics and No. 93 for vision and growth.
• Companies recently entangled in culture wars — like the Walt Disney Company, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Hobby Lobby — have also taken a hit.
• Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group fell 33 spots since it first debuted on the list in 2020 — from No. 59 to No. 92 — as everyday Americans raised concerns about the company's practices.

Yes, but: Just because a company's reputation score dropped doesn't mean it's in dire straits.

• Some top decliners — like Amazon, Procter & Gamble and PayPal — still have reputation scores that place them in the "very good" category.

Between the lines: A strong brand and loyal following can protect a company's reputation from political or cultural headwinds, according to the poll.

• Southwest Airlines, DraftKings, Google and Target have faced recent backlash specific to their own industries or company decisions — and while all four companies experienced declines this year, they were in line with or less than the average decline of 2.34 points.

What to watch: How revisions to diversity, equity and inclusion policies or sustainability practices impact corporate reputation in the year ahead.

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Patagonia transcends the most demographics, according to this year's rankings.

Zoom in: Republicans are the only group not to list Patagonia in the top 10.

• They are also the only ones to rank Hobby Lobby, In-N-Out and SpaceX, suggesting an ideological bent.
• Democrats, meanwhile, are the only demo to rank Nike and JPMorgan Chase & Co. in their top 10.

Zoom out: Others with broad appeal across political, generational and geographic lines are Trader Joe's, Microsoft, Toyota and Nvidia.

Go deeper ... read the full methodology here.

There's a good reason why customer ratings on sites like Amazon or Tripadvisor are presented with a visual star rating: Those ratings are perceived as being higher than those presented numerically.

Why it matters: Consumers evaluate ratings differently depending on the format in which the ratings are presented, per a new paper published in the Journal of Marketing Research.

The big picture: When we see pictures of stars, we count how many lit-up stars there are, including any partially lit stars. When we see a number, we focus on the initial digit.

• The result is that we tend to round up star ratings and round down numerical ratings.

How it works: Let's say someone uses a moon-based rating system and gives an object 2.5 moons out of 5. When asked, about 70% of respondents will say that's "around two moons" since most people round down rather than up.

• On the other hand, if the same object gets a rating of 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑, 80% of respondents will say that's "around three moons" since most people round up rather than down.

What they're saying: "Our results suggest that the brain representations that are activated when you process stars are completely different from the brain representations that are activated when you process Arabic numerals," co-author Manoj Thomas, of Cornell University, said in announcing the results.

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New York Women in Communications Inc. (NYWICI) held its annual Matrix Awards ceremony this week, which honors the accomplishments of women in communications and the arts.

• This year's winners include Spotify chief public affairs officer Dustee Jenkins, Verizon chief marketing officer Leslie Berland, Egami Group CEO Teneshia Jackson Warner, Hearst Magazines editorial director Lucy Kaylin, writer and producer Nkechi Okoro Carroll, "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker and actress and activist Bellamy Young.

"I tell founders today that leadership is not about being popular through every season. And sometimes the decisions you make that are authentic to the business, to you and your team, are going to get a ton of applause because it's the right time, right administration, right vibe. But there's a whole other context where that exact same decision gets booed. I counsel them to think hard now about ignoring what the crowds think. It's your business, it's your culture, it is your values."