Editor’s Note: The following remarks by Chief Executive Group CEO Marshall Cooper opened the 2025 CEO of the Year celebration honoring Dave Ricks, CEO of Eli Lilly at Nasdaq in Times Square on Wednesday, October 22, 2026. Photo, above: AMD’s Lisa Su, our 2024 CEO of the Year, presented Ricks with the award. More on CEO of the Year >
Good evening, and welcome.
I’m Marshall Cooper, CEO of Chief Executive Group, and it is my honor to welcome you to the 40th Annual CEO of the Year Gala.
Let me start by thanking our partners who help make tonight possible—our hosts at NASDAQ, our friends at AlixPartners and our roundtable hosts FranklinCovey, Growth Protocol, Pearl Meyer and PURE Insurance. We are grateful for your continued support.
Tonight, as always, we gather for three reasons: To celebrate, to find inspiration and also to recommit ourselves.
We celebrate the leadership of tonight’s honoree, David Ricks—selected by his peers as our 40th CEO of the Year. You will hear more about him shortly, but I want to note how meaningful it is to recognize a leader who represents not only business excellence, but also the powerful intersection of innovation, public health and societal impact.
We also find inspiration in this room—from the many CEOs and executive leaders here tonight who lead with integrity and purpose, and who earn the trust placed in them by employees, customers, shareholders and the communities you serve.
And finally, we recommit ourselves—not just to the work we do, but to the ideals that allow us to do it.
It’s a tough time to be a CEO. Besides the activist investors, macro headwinds, tariffs and regulatory pressure everyone here is facing, there are also a million 22-year-olds on TikTok right now explaining how capitalism is “just a vibe.”
It’s no wonder we all needed a night out.
It’s funny-not funny. We are in a defining moment. Support for free markets—especially among younger Americans—is shifting.
A recent Gallup survey found that only 43 percent of adults under 35 have a positive view of capitalism, while nearly half have a favorable view of socialism. Another poll from Axios showed that 68 percent of college students say they’d prefer “more government regulation” of business, not less.
Now, that’s not cause for panic. But it is a call to action.
As business leaders, we can’t assume the next generation will inherit our faith in free enterprise. We must earn it. We must explain it, demonstrate it and defend it—not just in white papers, but in the way we lead, the way we speak and the way we show up in our communities.
We must remind people that the free enterprise system—though imperfect—has improved the health and wealth of more people than any other force in human history.
That’s not a talking point. That is a fact.
At a time when so many Americans—on both sides of the political aisle—are losing faith in the institutions that serve them, business remains one of the few pillars in our society that has the scale, capability and ingenuity to solve real, practical problems for everyday people.
Whether it’s developing life-saving drugs, creating jobs or helping people build wealth through ownership and opportunity—business, done well, is an unparalleled force for good in our country and in our world.
As CEOs, I hope we can remind people of that—not with slogans, but with clarity, courage and humility. It’s a good time to speak up for business—and be proud to do so.
So tonight, let’s celebrate a remarkable leader. Let’s find inspiration in one another. And let’s recommit to the principles that make all this possible—liberty, innovation opportunity—and to the hard but vital work of building a future the next generation will be proud to inherit.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for what you do. And please enjoy the evening.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.