A low-pitched voice can influence perceptions of leadership, but its relationship with competence remains uncertain. Elizabeth Holmes, the Theranos founder known for her deep register, provides a prominent backdrop to research linking vocal pitch with executive success and voter preferences.
A 2013 study published in Evolution and Human Behavior examined 792 male CEOs of publicly traded companies. For the median CEO at the median company, a voice approximately 22 hertz lower was associated with roughly $187,000 more in annual compensation, a firm about $440 million larger, and an additional 151 days in office. The researchers emphasized that these were correlations, not evidence of causation.
Revisiting the findings in a 2025 podcast, coauthor Bill Mayew suggested that both perceptual bias and leadership development could contribute. People perceived as dominant early in life may receive more opportunities to lead, allowing an initial impression to develop into substantial experience over time.
In a separate 2012 experiment, researchers digitally raised and lowered the pitch of recordings in which men and women requested votes. Listeners of both genders preferred lower-pitched speakers, whether male or female; subsequent research found a similar association with victory in the 2012 U.S. House elections. Whether such preferences produce better leaders remains unresolved.
Holmes speaks in a noticeably higher register in the documentary You Can See Everything. Whatever advantage her deeper voice may once have offered, it could not sustain Theranos after its scientific claims were discredited. In January 2022, a jury convicted her on four counts of defrauding investors.
