Composite image of Pano Christou and a screenshot of his LinkedIn profile
Chris Jackson/Getty Images and Pano Christou/LinkedIn
A screenshot showing the LinkedIn resume of Pret a Manger’s CEO is going viral on X.
That’s because it features a 19-year climb from an assistant manager at the British food chain.
A 2018 LinkedIn study of over 12,000 CEO profiles found that 80% were sourced from other companies.
A LinkedIn job history of Pano Christou — the CEO of UK-based food and coffee chain Pret a Manger — has gone viral on X after a user shared a screenshot of his 19-year climb to the top.
The screenshot was shared by user Dan Barker on Tuesday on X, previously known as Twitter, and has since racked up over 3 million views on the platform.
Starting his tenure with the British food chain in 2000, Christou’s LinkedIn job history appears to show an ascent through the company ranks from assistant manager to the top executive role. The company also said in a 2019 announcement that Christou joined Pret in 2000.
His LinkedIn profile also appears to show stints as a store manager at Blockbuster and McDonald’s before 2000.
“So, so rare to see this happen. Good for them,” commented one X user in a post seen over 100,000 times on the platform.
Another commented, referring to Christou’s stint in McDonald’s, “There are many reasons you should never threaten a kid that they “might end up working in McDonald’s.” But this is a particularly glorious one.”
Another user pointed out that the CEOs of Walmart and Best Buy had similar journeys. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon went from unloading trucks for the company as a teen to later becoming the company’s top executive in 2014.
In 2022, Christou told the Times about growing up as a cab driver’s son, which meant lunches at Pret would have been considered a luxury.
His background marks a significant contrast from the company’s previous CEO, Clive Schlee, who spent 17 years at Hong Kong-based conglomerate Jardine Matheson before joining Pret as director in 1998. Schlee handed over the reins to Christou after 16 years as CEO.
To provide context to Christou’s unusual journey, a 2018 LinkedIn study of over 12,000 CEO profiles said that the most common first jobs held by CEOs were as consultants, software engineers, and analysts — and that 80% of CEOs are sourced from outside the company.
Pret a Manger was acquired by German conglomerate JAB Holdings in 2018 for around $2 billion. The British food and coffee chain operated 434 branches in the UK as of December 2022.
The Financial Times reported in July last year that Christou received more than 4 million pounds, or over $5 million, in remuneration in 2021.
Christou and Pret a Manger did not immediately respond to requests for comment, sent outside regular business hours.