Ford CEO Jim Farley says the secret to climbing the corporate ladder flows through this department—and Tim Cook is proof it works

Jim Farley with his hands raised (Credit: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

The road to the C-suite rarely follows a straight educational line. While some leaders studied engineering or computer science in their early years, others majored in liberal arts, such as history or philosophy. And a few, like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, never finished college. 

Ford CEO Jim Farley took a more traditional approach. As a student at Georgetown University, he studied general business before earning his MBA from UCLA, setting him on a path to climb the corporate ladder.