And these executives become part of the company's history and growth.
Here are some of the longest-serving CEOs of public companies - with more than $10 billion revenue - who have managed to occupy the top spot for at least 15 years.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
Photographs: Reuters
CEO: Penske Corporation
Time: 42 years
Penske started buying, selling and racing cars in 1958.
He founded Penske Corp as a holding company for his automotive endeavours, which now include car dealerships, truck rentals and engine manufacturing.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
Photographs: Reuters
CEO: Berkshire Hathaway
Time: 41 years
The legendary zen master of investing took control of textile company Berkshire Hathaway in 1970.
Forty years later, he's one of the richest men in the world, and he's one of the few out there whose name rings far louder than the brand of the company he leads.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
CEO: Marriott International
Time: 39 years
Bill is the son of founder J Willard Marriott, who started the business in 1927 as a humble root beer stand called 'The Hot Shoppe'.
He took over in the early 70s, after his father changed the company name to Marriott Corporation.
Before he took over, Marriott was solely a food services company, but he diversified into theme parks, vacation time-shares and eventually hotels.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
Photographs: Reuters
CEO: Oracle
Time: 34 years
Ellison co-founded enterprise software and database management provider Oracle 34 years ago and has stayed in control of the company since.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
Photographs: Reuters
CEO: News Corporation
Time: 32 years
He started buying up other newspapers, first in the UK and then the US, in the 1970s.
Forty years later, his company has become one of the world's largest media conglomerates.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
CEO: Costco
Time: 28 years
Sinegal co-founded Costco, now the US' largest wholesale club, with Seattle retailer Jeff Brotman.
It was the first warehouse store to offer petrol and fresh food.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
CEO: Aramark
Time: 28 years
A former vice-president at PepsiCo and Chase Manhattan, Neubauer joined food and facilities services company ARA Services and immediately had to fend off a hostile takeover bid, resulting in buyout by the incumbent executives.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
Photographs: Reuters
CEO: State Farm Insurance
Time: 26 years
Rust's grandfather was a lawyer that helped State Farm founder George Mecherle start up the company in 1922.
He became CEO in 1954, passed it down to his son in 1967, and the job finally landed in Edward Rust Jr's lap in 1985.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
CEO: Aflac
Time: 21 years
Aflac was founded in 1955 by three brothers: John, Paul, and Bill Amos.
So it was natural for Dan Amos, John's son, to head the company in their stead.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
CEO: Occidental Petroleum
Time: 21 years
Irani was an exec at chemicals maker Olin Corporation before legendary business magnate Armand Hammer brought him into Occidental.
Hammer chose Irani to succeed him as CEO after 20 years with the firm.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
Photographs: Reuters
CEO: Safeway
Time: 18 years
Burd worked as a consultant for Arthur D. Little before joining Safeway following the company's takeover by KKR in 1986.
It took several years to reorganize the company, and by 1998 Burd was finally able to focus on expansion.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
CEO: Capital One
Time: 17 years
Fairbank founded the bank holding company Capital One in 1988, officially becoming CEO and chairman six years later.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
CEO: Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold
Time: 17 years
Adkerson took over FMCG after it spun off parent Freeport-McMoRan in 1994.
The company's mine in Indonesia is their most profitable location, but also their biggest public relations nightmare.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
CEO: Dean Foods
Time: 17 years
Engles merged his ice company Reddy Ice with Suiza Dairy in 1995, and the resulting company Suiza Foods went on to buy Dean Foods.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
Photographs: Reuters
CEO: Cisco Systems
Time: 16 years
Chambers worked at IBM and Wang Laboratories before joining networking tech company Cisco as a SVP in 1991.
He became CEO in 1995, and helped grow the firm into one of the world's biggest tech companies, reaching $40 billion in revenue in 2010.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
CEO: Hess Corporation
Time: 16 years
Hess' father, Leon Hess, founded Hess Oil and Chemical in the 1930s, which became Amerada Hess after a merger in 1968.
The father-son pair are the only CEOs in the history of the company, which was renamed Hess Corporation in 2006.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
Photographs: Reuters
CEO: Amazon.com
Time: 15 years
Bezos founded Amazon as an online bookstore in 1996. Fifteen years later, Amazon sells pretty much everything, from web services to groceries.
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World's 18 longest-serving CEOs
Photographs: Reuters
CEO: DISH Network
Time: 15 years
Ergen founded DISH's predecessor parent company EchoStar Satellite in 1980 with his pal Jim DeFranco.
EchoStar spawned DISH in 1996, launching its first satellite and subscription television services. DISH split off in 2008, but Ergan maintained control.
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