What is the degree I need so I can mange a company?

A couple of potentially annoying, but practical responses:
- It really depends on the type of company you want to manage.
- No degree will allow you to graduate and immediately take charge of an established company.

To expand a bit on the first point, if you want to manage a marketing company, it would probably be best to get a marketing degree. If it's an engineering company, you should get an engineering degree.

A good way to determine the fastest path is to investigate the backgrounds of the top executives at the types of companies that interest you most. But that still won't tell you the full story. CEOs and presidents of companies most likely get to their positions because they were great at contributing to their companies' growth in revenues and profits. Leadership, communication, sales and strategy skills are essential for generating such growth.

Business administration might be a good degree to teach you some of these skills, but all of them can be learned outside of college.

More than the degree, my suggestion would be to focus on the core business skills (eg, finance, marketing, operations, etc) but also the soft skills (eg, how to collaborate with others not under your reporting structure, how to influence and negotiate, how to optimize your team, etc). Many schools offer executive programs with refreshers on the soft skills to really optimize your team and company, take advantage of those, not because of the curriculum, but because class participants usually have sage advice from trial and error. Build your network to use as a sounding board for key strategic directions you would like to take your company. No degree with give you all the answers, but the more equipped you are on where to seek them, the fewer issues you are likely to encounter. Good luck!

I think getting a degree in overall business is a great path. I would also encourage you to think about a career in sales as part of your journey. A lot of CEOs of companies had sales in their background. Sales people have to spend a lot of time with their customers. Leading a company will be more beneficial if you understand what customers want. Good luck!

Bachelor in Science: Business Management.