Single CEOs have all the fun, or at least take all the risks, a recent report finds.
Chief executives without a partner make riskier business decisions and experience higher stock volatility than their counterparts with a partner, according to a recent report from the National Bureau of Economic Research. After comparing more than 5,000 chief executives, both single and married, the report concludes that single CEOs may often be involved in more aggressive business moves like making bigger investments and chasing bolder acquisitions, potentially in order to attract a higher-status marriage partner.
The dating market may be tricky for CEOs considering the demands of the job. Steve Tappin, author of the book The Secrets of CEOs estimated in a 2010 CNN interview that about 90 percent of CEOs struggle with work-life balance.
But there are resources available to help CEOs get lucky in love, like SingleStartUps.com, an online dating site geared towards high-status individuals as well the meet-up group SingleCeos.com. The mission of another such site, Seekingmillionaire.com, seems to support the NBER report's findings that CEOs place such a heavy emphasis on status.
"In short, this is a dating website which caters to singles who possess and care about two important qualities -- namely, WEALTH and BEAUTY," the "About" section of the site reads.
But some CEOs have been lucky enough to find a partner, and it hasn't had an adverse effect on their business. Steve Ballmer of Microsoft is cited by the authors of the report as an executive who continues to find success even as he remains married to his first wife, CNBC reports.