The star executive of the 1980s was the chief financial officer. Technology took over in the 1990s, elevating the chief information officer.

This decade's hot executive is shaping up to be the CRO, the chief risk officer, which students of Intel chairman Andy Grove's book, "Only the Paranoid Survive," may recognize as the chief paranoid officer.
—Del Jones, "Paranoia pays: Managing risk has its rewards," USA Today, May 5, 2000

A study of global capital markets reports that the world's capital markets are showing signs of stress, with many senior executives of leading financial services institutions revealing skepticism toward such highly touted developments as 24-hour trading and globalization. ...

The following is the breakdown of the 150 senior executives who participated: chief executive officers (37 percent); chief financial officers (24 percent); chief trading officers (19 percent); chief risk officers (10 percent); other senior management (10 percent).
—"Peat Marwick study on global capital markets," PR Newswire, June 23, 1988