The title of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the highest-ranking position in a company and requires a wide scope of responsibilities. As the most visible executive officer of a company, the CEO is responsible for leading the entire organization. The CEO works to ensure that successful goals for sales, profits and market share are met.

The CEO is in charge of developing the company's overall strategy and vision, ensuring that the company meets short-term and long-term goals. He or she also has the power to direct operations, to approve budgets and allocation of resources and to hire, fire and promote members of the executive management team. Additionally, the CEO must be proficient in personal investment strategy and in dealing with shareholders, stakeholders and regulatory bodies.

The CEO is frequently the public face of a company, making appearances at conventions, industry events and charity functions while speaking on behalf of their company. This makes their reputation, in addition to the company's, particularly important. A successful CEO can significantly increase a company’s share prices, while a less successful one can cause those prices to drop.

In the United States, the average salary for the top 350 CEOs is estimated to be around $24 million, which is about 351 times more than the salary of an average employee. Research also indicates that the CEO is heavily influential in the success of the company, with some studies finding that the CEO is responsible for up to 45% of the company's performance, while other studies claim the influence to be only 15%.

In short, the role of a CEO is one of the most important and demanding in a business. The CEO is entrusted with an immense responsibility for meeting the organization's objectives and inspiring its employees. As the leader of any organization, the right CEO can make all the difference between success and failure.