What is the Chairman of the Board? Definition and meaning

Chairman of the Board

Definition: the Chairman of the Board is the highest-ranking corporate officer. His formal function is to preside over board meetings.
In countries with a one-tier board structure (USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, Spain, Japan) the Chief Executive Officer normally also holds the position of Chairman of the Board. He then heads the (combined) Board of Directors.
In case of a two-tier board structure (Germany, Austria) there are two boards: the Board of Directors and the Supervisory Board. In this corporate governance system, the CEO is only the chairman of the Board of Directors, but not of the Supervisory Board.

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