Fairsig

Email signatures for CEOs and founders

An executive's signature is read by investors, customers, candidates and the whole company. The best ones are short and certain: who you are, which company, how to reach your office. Here are five examples for different kinds of companies, and what to leave out.

What to include

  • Name and title, written the same way as on your website and LinkedIn.
  • Company name, and the logo if your brand is recognised by it.
  • One phone number: the office or your assistant's line.
  • Company website, which is where most readers will go next.
  • Address only if people visit, or if the law requires company details in your country (see the legal footer examples for the UK, Germany and France).

What to leave out

  • Quotes and mottos. They age badly and get repeated in every reply.
  • Long lists of awards or board seats. One line, if any; the website can hold the rest.
  • Many social icons. LinkedIn is the profile people check. A CEO's inbox isn't a marketing channel.
  • Banners and promotions. They make a personal email from the CEO look like a campaign.

5 CEO email signature examples

All names, companies and phone numbers are fictional.

CEO with company logo

Executives rarely need a photo: the logo carries the brand, and the contact band keeps a long address readable. No social links, because a CEO's inbox is not a marketing channel.

Use this signatureCorporate template

Startup founder

Founders send a lot of short emails to investors and early customers. A text-first signature with two gray icons looks deliberate rather than corporate.

Use this signatureMinimal template

Owner and CEO of a family business

In a small company the CEO is also the person customers call. A photo and the direct line make that obvious, and the address helps local clients find the shop.

Use this signatureClassic template

CEO of a mid-size firm, bold

A large name and a firm rule read as confident without decoration. One phone number, the company site and nothing else: people who need the CEO's mobile already have it.

Use this signatureBold template

Tech CEO, text only

Plain text is the most reliable signature there is: no image to block, nothing to break in a forwarded thread. LinkedIn is the one profile investors and candidates look up.

Use this signatureMinimal template

If you have an executive assistant

Many executives route scheduling through an assistant. A simple way to show that without cluttering the signature is to put the assistant's line as the phone number and mention them in the email when it matters (“Copying Dana, who manages my calendar”). Some companies add a short “Scheduling:” line; in Fairsig you can use the address field for it, as in the educator example on the nurse signature page.

A shorter signature for replies

Executives send many one-line replies. Gmail and Outlook both let you choose a different default signature for replies and forwards; a two-line version (name, title, company) is enough there. See the Gmail and Outlook guides.

One signature for the whole leadership team

Signatures look most professional when the whole company uses the same layout. Pick a template and accent color, then have each person fill in their own details. Fairsig's Teams plan (shared company template, flat price per domain) is planned; until then, share the generator link with the template and color preset, for example from any “Use this signature” button above.

Questions

Should a CEO put a mobile number in their email signature?

Usually not. Everything you send is forwarded, and a signature puts the number in front of everyone in the thread. Give the office or assistant's line, and share your mobile directly with the people who need it.

“CEO”, “Chief Executive Officer” or “Founder & CEO”?

All are fine; pick the one your company uses everywhere else. In small companies “Founder & CEO” tells people they're talking to the person who decides. In larger ones the full title, matching the website and annual report, reads more formally.

Should a CEO's signature include a photo?

In a small business where customers deal with the CEO directly, a photo helps. In larger companies the logo usually does the job, and a photo can look like self-promotion in internal email.

Related: professional signature checklist and marketing signatures.

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