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Forbes 2026 World’s Most Influential CMOs List: 50 Marketing Leaders Driving Growth and Brand Transformation

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Forbes 2026 World's Most Influential CMOs: The Definitive List

Forbes has published its 2026 World's Most Influential CMOs list, recognizing 50 chief marketing officers who have demonstrated measurable impact on their organizations' growth, brand equity, and market influence.

The list was compiled in partnership with Sprinklr and supplemented by LinkedIn data, analyzing over 10 billion data points across 20 domains of marketing influence.

The Top 10

1. Marian Lee (Netflix) – Third Consecutive Year at #1

Lee led Netflix past 300 million paid memberships and $39 billion in revenue. She expanded the advertising business to 250 million monthly active users and oversaw campaigns for live events such as the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight and WWE partnerships.

2. Emily Prazer (Formula 1) – First Appearance

As Chief Commercial Officer, she helped F1 achieve a record $3.87 billion in revenue. Prazer launched the Las Vegas Grand Prix with a 10-year extension and secured partnerships with American Express and LVMH.

3. Frank Cooper III (Visa) – Fourth Appearance

Cooper led Visa’s global marketing across 200+ countries, generating over $40 billion in revenue. He oversaw campaigns featuring Jason Sudeikis and Anderson .Paak.

4. Tim Ellis (NFL) – Fourth Appearance

He modernized the NFL brand through the "Helmets Off" initiative and expanded fan diversity. Ellis contributed to the league’s $23 billion revenue and 86 of the 100 most-watched U.S. TV broadcasts.

5. Mark Weinstein (Hilton)

Weinstein led Hilton’s luxury brand strategy across 28 brands and 9,200 hotels. He grew Hilton Honors to 250 million members and drove the "It Matters Where You Stay" campaign.

6. Chris Davis (New Balance)

Davis transformed the company from product-led to brand-led, more than doubling sales to $9.2 billion. He achieved this through collaborations with athletes like Coco Gauff and brands like Prada.

7. Jochen Goller (BMW) – First Appearance

He oversees customer strategy, sales, and marketing for BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce. Goller generated $156 billion in revenue and advanced the Neue Klasse electric platform.

8. Marc Speichert (Four Seasons)

As Chief Commercial Officer, he expanded the brand into yachts, private aviation, and retail, emphasizing "AI meets EI."

9. Kate Rouch (OpenAI) – First Appearance

As OpenAI’s first CMO, she led global marketing as ChatGPT reached hundreds of millions of users. The company surpassed $20 billion in revenue, and Rouch oversaw the first Super Bowl campaign.

10. Romy Gai (FIFA)

Gai modernized FIFA’s commercial strategy with partnerships with YouTube, TikTok, and Salesforce, driving over $2.6 billion in revenue ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

Additional Notable Entries

  • Nicole Hubbard Graham (Nike) – Helped generate $46.3 billion in revenue and led the "Winning Isn’t For Everyone" Olympics campaign.

  • Kenny Mitchell (Levi’s) – Partnered with Beyoncé on the "REIIMAGINE" campaign and returned to the Super Bowl after 20 years.

  • Asmita Dubey (L’Oréal) – Oversaw digital and marketing for the world’s largest beauty company, generating $49 billion in revenue.

  • Takeshi Numoto (Microsoft) – Directed brand and product strategy for Azure, Windows, Xbox, and Copilot, with Microsoft reaching $281 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue.

  • Jane Wakely (PepsiCo) – Led global consumer organization and international foods growth, with PepsiCo generating $92 billion in revenue.

  • Lisa Materazzo (Ford) – First appearance. Until her departure in June 2026, she unified marketing across Ford Blue, Model e, and Lincoln, advancing the "Ready, Set, Ford" platform.

Methodology

The list was created from a pool of over 1,500 CMOs. Data was collected from April 2025 to March 2026.

Only enterprise-level brand CMOs were evaluated, excluding sub-brand or divisional heads. Nine honorees were elevated to the Forbes CMO Hall of Fame for their fifth appearance, while six new CMOs were identified as "CMOs to Watch."