This paper analyses the impact of a CEO’s demographic and professional characteristics on the market value of the company. The growth of company capitalisation involves the expectations of investors specifically their view of the personality of the CEO, including whether he will be able to maintain the proper level of the company’s work and whether there is expediency in further investment. Therefore, it is extremely important to understand exactly what qualities of a top manager influence investor expectations. This research is based on data from the 50 largest public Russian companies from non-financial sectors for the period 2011-2019, and iformation is included on 98 CEOs across this period. Herein we define the mechanism of the relationship between the personal characteristics of the CEO and the market value of the company. Based on a pooled regression assessment, our results indicate that the level of education of the CEO is an insignificant variable, and practical experience is valued higher than academic qualification (this is consistent with the results of previous studies). The market responds positively to the appointment of executives with industry experience. The experience of a CEO in a prior governmental or state role impacts negatively on firm value, and the status of the company’s founder is met with optimism by the market, seeming to assure an interest in strategic development. The status of an outside manager is rated higher by the market than a successful career inside the company. The optimal age of the head of the company from the point of view of positively influencing the value of the company was determined at 49 years. We conclude that a portrait of the head of a large traded Russian corporation has been constructed in the present work, which contributes to the literature on optimal market perception for businesses and manager.