Executive excellence

H-E-B's head honcho once again ranks among America's top CEOs

Charles Butt is one of the top 10 CEOs, according to Glassdoor.

Photo courtesy of Texas State History Museum Foundation

H-E-B customers adore the San Antonio-based grocery chain, and H-E-B employees appear to adore their boss.

CEO Charles Butt ranks seventh on Glassdoor’s new list of the top 100 CEOs for 2021. He received a 96 percent approval rating from H-E-B employees who shared anonymous feedback on the Glassdoor platform, which publishes reviews and salary information for employers.

Butt is no stranger to the list; in 2019, he ranked second overall.

“Under his leadership, the desire to constantly innovate has led to new store concepts, the creation of one of the most successful private-label programs in the country, and the commitment to build out state-of-the-art digital products and services to complement H-E-B’s world-class stores,” the grocery chain said in a 2019 news release about Butt.

Butt is also recognized as an advocate for public education and literacy.

The Butt family is among the richest families in the country, with a net worth estimated by Forbes at $17.8 billion. Florence Butt, Charles’ grandmother, founded the family-owned business in 1905.

Other Texas executives appearing on the new Glassdoor list are:

Third-ranked Dr. Peter Pisters, president of Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center (99 percent approval).
Fourth-ranked Gary Kelly, who just announced he’s stepping down as CEO of Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (98 percent approval).
55th-ranked Sean Yalamanchi, chairman and president of Richardson-based Infovision (93 percent approval).
60th-ranked Dr. Marc Boom, president and CEO of Houston Methodist (93 percent approval).
76th-ranked Worthing Jackman, president and CEO of The Woodlands-based Waste Connections (92 percent approval).

“Over the past year, company leaders around the world faced unprecedented challenges to support employees during the COVID-19 crisis. Now, the employees have spoken and it’s clear that these CEOs excelled and found new ways to support their people when the world of work flipped upside down,” Christian Sutherland-Wong, Glassdoor’s CEO, says in a news release.

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Drop the Debt

Students of families making under $100,000 will get free tuition to UT

University of Texas at San Antonio/Instagram

This is an extension of a previous program with a lower income eligibility.

Beginning next fall, some students accepted into schools within the University of Texas system will receive free tuition and have all fees waived, the board of regents announced on Wednesday.

In order to qualify, families of undergraduates must make less than $100,000 a year.

The board gave preliminary approval to the plan on Wednesday. After the full board’s consideration and vote on Thursday, the plan will include a new, immediate infusion of $35 million directly to campuses to offer the financial aid benefit. The plan also directs additional investment in endowments supporting financial aid to ensure a commitment for tuition relief.

In 2019, the regents established a $167 million endowment at UT Austin to completely cover tuition and mandatory fees for in-state undergraduate students from families with an income of up to $65,000. In 2022, the regents approved a second endowment of almost $300 million called “Promise Plus” to extend the program to all UT academic institutions.

“To be in a position to make sure our students can attend a UT institution without accruing more debt is very important to all of us [...]” Kevin P. Eltife, chairman of the board of regents, said.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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