Public Company-to-
PE CEO Research

What Predicts Success When Public Company Leaders Become Portfolio-Company CEOs

U.S. PE-backed companies have grown more than 400% over the past 25 years, while publicly listed companies have declined roughly 35% (Citizens Bank, as cited in Harvard Business Review). As a result, there are not enough leaders who have already run a PE-backed company to fill the CEO roles investors need to fill.

Public company leaders are closing that gap. Of the high-performing first-time portfolio-company CEOs ghSMART assessed in 2024–2025, 53% came directly from public company C-suite or business-unit leadership roles. For PE investors, the public company pipeline is no longer a fallback. For public company executives, a PE-backed company is increasingly where a first CEO role is found.

The old hiring shortcut, hire someone who has done it before, is less reliable than many firms assume. ghSMART Public Company-to-PE CEO Research identifies five capabilities that offer a more reliable and practical basis for evaluating readiness than relying on prior portfolio-company experience alone. Many accomplished public company executives are not suited to the role. The research helps investors and candidates assess the fit before the hire.

The research titled Making the Leap from Corporate Leader to PE-Backed CEO, by Samantha Hellauer, Dina Wang, Heidi Smith, and Samantha Smith, appeared in the July–August 2026 issue of Harvard Business Review.

About the Research

ghSMART analyzed five years of proprietary assessment data on 491 senior executives: 241 PE-backed CEOs and 250 public company C-suite leaders. The published research compared the groups across 18 markers from ghSMART’s Executive Potential Model and its broader database of more than 30,000 leadership assessments.

The team also reviewed 83 assessments of public company leaders who later became PE-backed CEOs and conducted a dozen interviews with portfolio-company CEOs and PE investors.

Contrasting the two groups isolated what the PE context specifically demands: five crucial capabilities to increase odds of first-time PE CEO success.

Expanding the CEO Talent Pool Without Compromising Fit

Talent shortages, bolder value-creation plans, and more complex transformations are pushing PE firms beyond the familiar profile. The supply of proven portfolio-company CEOs has not kept pace, and the more ambitious the plan, the fewer candidates match it on paper. Prior PE experience shows a candidate has operated in the environment. It does not show whether they have the capabilities this plan, this board, and this hold period require.

When a public company leader’s move into a PE-backed CEO role fails, the cause is rarely a lack of talent. Usually, neither the investor nor the candidate clearly defined or tested the capabilities the role required.

The Five Crucial Capabilities

No leader excels at all five. But the stronger a candidate is across all of them, the better their odds of success in a PE-backed role.

1. Practical Commercial Orientation

Focuses on growth and adjusts quickly as needed.

Public company norm vs. PE demand: Public company leaders often excel at long-range planning. PE-backed CEOs must translate strategy into value creation from day one. The role moves beyond financial oversight into active commercial leadership, driving growth and margin expansion rather than managing the annual budget.

ghSMART research finding: PE-backed CEOs were 17% more likely to prioritize growth and pivot quickly.

2. Strategic Thinking

Operates strategically under constant time pressure. 

Public company norm vs. PE demand: Public company strategy runs on long planning cycles with heavy governance and consensus-building. PE strategy is hands-on and time-compressed. Many transitioning leaders find it liberating to work without quarterly earnings constraints or broad consensus requirements.

ghSMART research finding: PE-backed CEOs were 20% more likely to maintain performance under pressure.

3. Drive to Have Broader Impact Through Others

Driven to scale impact powerfully by executing through others. 

Public company norm vs. PE demand: Credibility built inside a public company hierarchy counts for far less in a portfolio company. New ownership, a reset strategy, and limited inherited authority mean the leader is effectively starting over.

ghSMART research finding: PE-backed CEOs were 45% more likely to show a strong drive to significantly amplify their impact by mobilizing others — the largest gap of the five capabilities.

Success requires mobilizing direct reports, the broader organization, and the board, with visible time in the field. The CEO stays close enough to the work to remove blockers while pushing accountability down and across the organization.

4. Willingness to Take On Challenge and Risk

Places selective bets and owns the consequences. 

Public company norm vs. PE demand: Successful PE CEOs make trade-offs quickly, without waiting for consensus or perfect information, and own the outcomes openly. Leaders who sought out disruptive or transformational public company roles are often already conditioned for this.

ghSMART research finding: PE-backed CEOs were 12% more likely to take calculated risks.

Talent decisions are the sharpest example. Public company hiring can take months; PE CEOs must decide quickly who can deliver the value-creation plan, with a shorter timeline and less room for hiring mistakes. Candidates should consider whether they are prepared to develop a talent plan within the first 120 days and make necessary changes within a year.

5. Interpersonal Range

Engages with stakeholders, especially investors and the board.

Public company norm vs. PE demand: Public company environments reward polish, sensitivity to hierarchy, and carefully managed communication. PE environments reward clarity, candor, and the ability to adapt to a wide variety of people.

ghSMART research finding: PE-backed CEOs were 30% more likely to demonstrate strong interpersonal range.

The biggest difference is the board relationship: frequent, informal, and unscripted in PE, versus episodic and filtered in public company settings.

Assessing Readiness — Questions for Both Sides of the Hire

What PE Firms Should Ask About Candidates

• Has the candidate made high-stakes, value-focused calls on imperfect data?

• Can they simplify strategy into a few executable priorities and pivot on new data?

• Have they taken consequential risks, especially upgrading talent when the business required it?

• Do they deliver at pace through a team, with a “we” rather than “I” orientation?

• Do they build trust across diverse stakeholders with candor?

• Have they led in under-resourced or broken situations?

• Beyond compensation, are they energized by building and by sustained intensity?

Assessing a candidate for a portfolio company role? Take the PE CEO Readiness Diagnostic to see how well a candidate matches what the role actually demands.

What Public Company Leaders Should Ask Themselves

• Do fast, bottom-line decisions amid ambiguity energize me?

• Do I focus quickly on what matters, or prefer extended exploration?

• Does full accountability energize or drain me?

• Am I ready to have a talent plan within 120 days and make changes within a year?

• Am I comfortable with real-time transparency?

• Do I enjoy building structure where little exists?

• Is my real motivation the work, the pay, or the title — and how will I feel on the hardest days of the hold period?

Thinking about moving to a PE-backed company? Take the Public Co-to-PE CEO Readiness Self-Assessment to find out whether you’d thrive in a PE environment.

Applications of the Research

For PE Investors and Operating Partners — Widen the Pool Without Raising the Risk

Assess capability, not résumé familiarity. ghSMART’s readiness model evaluates public company candidates against the Five Crucial Capabilities, helping firms assess transition readiness and focus development where it matters. Related ghSMART applications include the Who Methodology® and SmartAssessment® [LINK], CEO & C-Suite Succession [LINK], and Management Team Assessment [LINK]. Take the Public Company Leader Readiness Diagnostic for PE Talent Leaders to evaluate a candidate’s fit for a PE-backed CEO role. [LINK]

For Public Company Executives — Test the Fit Before You Leap

Treat the move as a redefinition of the role, not a promotion, and assess both capability and motivation honestly. Take the Public Company Leader Readiness Diagnostic for Executives to evaluate your fit for a PE-backed CEO role and identify areas to explore further. [LINK]

For New Portfolio-Company CEOs — Accelerate the First Year

Consider whether you are prepared to develop a talent plan within 120 days, make necessary talent changes within the first year, and build a frequent, candid board relationship from the start.