[d33d33]

As someone working in it-consulting for some big companies in germany, i can't confirm. It's usually the other way around - if a company grows too fast, they're tempted to make some smart engineer a manager. usually they will have a hard time coming from a very detailed world into the high level business world. besides being good problem-analysts, they are confronted with politics, strategy, leadership, ... - so all the skills that really matter at ceo level.

That being said, i can't agree with the statement that sw engineers make the best CEOs. But i tend to agree that a basic knowledge of IT/Software/Hardware is a must.