CEO Approval Ratings: Zuckerberg Liked, Ballmer Not

Although David Fincher's 2010 film The Social Network portrayed Facebook's chief executive officer as a strange loner, it seems Mark Zuckerberg is adored by his employees. A recent study shows that Zuckerberg gets a 'thumbs up' from 99 per cent of Facebook workers.

Glassdoor, which calls itself a "career community" site "that offers the world an inside look at jobs and companies," carried out a survey of more than half a million employees. It then put together a list titled "50 Highest Rated CEOs 2013."

Zuckerberg's Approval Rating Skyrockets in 2013

Topping that list was Zuckerberg with his 99 per cent approval rating -- a 14 point increase from his 2012 rating. It's a surprising showing for Zuckerberg, whose company has faced scrutiny for controversial privacy settings and a plummeting stock.

According to an anonymous employee, Facebook is "an open community from Zuck on down," and where "mutual trust" and "sense of community and drive" can both be found. (Source: pcmag.com)

Ten spots down the list is Google's Larry Page, with a 95 per cent approval rating. Finishing in 16th place is Amazon's Jeff Bezos, while Oracle's Larry Ellison ranked 46th.

Apple CEO Drops Seventeen Spots

Notable dropper on the list: Apple chief exec Tim Cook, who finished first last year (with an approval rating of 97 per cent) but who plummeted to 18th spot in 2013. His overall approval rating is a still very impressive 93 per cent.

It's possible Cook's drop is due to extended criticism of Apple's inability or unwillingness to introduce a product that is not a MacBook, iPad, iPhone, or iPod.

Notably absent from the list: women. Last year Hewlett-Packard's Meg Whitman made the list with an approval rating of 80 per cent, but in dropping to 79 per cent this year she failed to make the cut.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer reportedly finished with an approval rating of 87 per cent, but wasn't evaluated by enough employees to qualify for the list.

Also failing to make the grade was Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. According to reports, Ballmer's approval rating is extremely low these days; in fact, it's reported that less than half of all Microsoft employees approve of his work. (Source: computerworld.com)

Glassdoor says that the average CEO approval rating was 68 per cent. (Source: cnet.com)