system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: why are there two chains of command in companies? There's the CEO, CFO, COO and the President, Exec VP, and VP line. What's the difference between a president and a CEO?
gpt
The role of the President (and basically only the president) will vary wildly between businesses. CEO is always the top-level executive officer, should the title exist at all, commonly assisted by a CFO, COO, and maybe some other C-level executives like CIO. In companies with both President and CEO titles, the president is often the public face of the company. This could be bundled together with the CEO or COO position, given to the Chairman of the Board, etc. Alternatively, they could have a president that acts as one of the steps in-between VP and CE. Other times, the organization will avoid CEO altogether and use President as it's chief executive.