The professional benefits of marriage have long been extolled. Married couples tend to make more money over their professional lifetimes. And tying the knot can come with a number of perks—financially and socially. Senior executives often prefer the stability associated with the coupled, which can lead to promotions. Married people are said to live longer as well.

    Recently published research by Washington University’s Joshua Jackson even suggests that you are more likely to rise the ranks fastest with a “conscientious” spouse; one who is reliable, organized, and good at managing chores and finances.

    But where does that leave those Americans who simply haven’t found “the one” yet? In many ways, staying single can do wonders for your career. It gives you more flexibility—you are less likely to feel guilty about spending long hours in the office.

    In fact, at certain points in a company’s life, it may be better for the top spot to be filled by a lonesome dove. That’s because the unhitched are more willing to take chances on investment in research and development or mergers, according to recent research. Such efforts can turn a small struggling business into a publicly traded gem. In fact, a number of CEOs without a marriage certificate are at the helm of fast-growing companies.

    This is certainly the case in the boom and bust world of startups. These four companies have been aided by the attention, dedication, and attentiveness of their unmarried CEOs. At least most of the time. These four executives have found love; it just doesn’t necessarily include a living, breathing partner.

    婚姻给职业发展带来的好处，一直广受赞扬。在整个职业生涯中，已婚人士往往能够获取更高的收入。结婚还可以带来经济和社交方面的额外好处。高管通常更欣赏已婚人士具有的稳定性，这一优势可以给已婚者带来升职机遇。而且，有人认为已婚者的寿命更长。

    华盛顿大学教授约书亚•杰克森最近发布的一项研究甚至暗示，如果你的配偶“尽职尽责”，可靠、有条理并且擅长处理家务和财务，你就更有可能以最快的速度平步青云。

    但这样一来，那些还没有找到“另一半”的人该怎么办？在许多方面，单身其实能够给职业发展带来意想不到的好处。它可以让你更灵活——在办公室工作很长时间，也不会有愧疚感。

    事实上，在公司发展的某些阶段，由单身人士担任最高领导职务，或许是更好的选择。这是因为，根据最近一项研究，单身者更愿意抓住机遇，在研发或并购方面进行大胆投资。这些方面的努力可以将一家苦苦挣扎的小公司打造成一家集万般宠爱于一身的上市公司。事实上，许多快速增长的公司CEO都未正式成家。

    繁荣与萧条并存的创业界确实存在这种情况。下面四家公司便得益于其单身CEO的专注、奉献和投入。至少在大多数时间里，单身CEO给公司带来的是好处。这四位高管已经找到了挚爱；只不过他们的“另一半”并不一定是一位有血有肉的配偶。

    Tony Hsieh, Zappos.com

    Hsieh, 41, serves as testament that single people just know how to have more fun. He has turned his online shoe retail operation into a perennial favorite on Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For list. Amazon bought the company in 2009 for $1.2 billion, but Hsieh still has a lot of room to run Zappos how he sees fit, which includes plenty of booze, parties, and Kilt Fridays. The office environment has produced a number of Zappos marriages.

    But not for Hsieh, whose singlehood has left him with plenty of time to focus on the company he built. His days are long. He reportedly holds meetings often from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. In 2010, he wrote a New York Times bestselling business book, Delivering Happiness, in two weeks, and undertook a Las Vegas economic development project in 2012. The project seeks to revitalize the area of the city in which Zappos is headquartered by funneling $350 million into new shops and restaurants.

    Don’t expect him to settle down soon, though. Hsieh recently responded to a question from Playboy about the virtues of monogamy:

    From a purely evolutionary point of view, the guy who’s monogamous will have fewer copies of his genes in the next generation than a guy who’s not. I think it’s pretty hard to find one partner and call it a day. Using the analogy of friends, why not find just one friend and call it a day? The answer is because you get a different type of connection, different conversations, different experiences with different friends. I would say the same thing is true on the dating side.

    谢家华， Zappos.com

    41岁的谢家华充分证明，单身人士很清楚如何寻找乐趣。他将自己的在线鞋业零售公司，变成了《财富》最适宜工作的公司榜单上的常客。2009年，亚马逊以12亿美元收购了该公司，但在Zappos的运营方面，谢家华仍有很大的自主权，他可以按照自己认为合适的方式经营公司，比如举办各种酒会、派对和周五苏格兰裙聚会（Kilt Fridays）等。这种办公环境让许多Zappos员工喜结连理。

    但谢家华并不是其中之一，单身状态让他有大量时间专注于自己创建的公司。他非常忙碌。据报道，他通常从早上8点开会一直到晚上10点才结束。在2010年，他在两周内就撰写了一本登上《纽约时报》畅销书榜的图书——《传递幸福》（Delivering Happiness），并在2012年承接了拉斯维加斯的经济发展项目。通过向新商店和餐厅注资3.5亿美元，该项目希望推动Zappos公司总部所在的市区实现复兴。

    但不要以为他很快就会安定下来。最近，《花花公子》杂志大谈一夫一妻制的各种好处，谢家华这样回应一个相关问题：

    从纯进化论的角度来说，一夫一妻制的人，其基因在下一代中被复制的次数更少。我认为很难找到一位伴侣，结束单身。借用一位朋友的说法，为什么不找个朋友一起生活？答案在于，因为你与不同的朋友会有不同的联系，不同的交流和不同的体验。我想说，约会也是如此。

    Travis Kalanick, Uber

    When you’re attempting to overtake an industry as resistant to change as taxi service, it’s probably a good idea if you have an affinity for risk. Kalanick, 38, has been resolute and brash, turning Uber into a tech darling in just five years. Along the way, he has battled with local and federal regulators in the U.S. and abroad, as well as labor groups.

    Now, as rumors of a potential IPO grow louder—in December, Uber tapped Goldman Sachs to raise $1 billion from the bank’s wealthy clients at a 30% discount to an eventual IPO target valuation of $52 billion—Kalanick and his company face challenges from other, up-in-coming startups, like Lyft, that provide the same service at a lower cost.

    Some countries haven’t been as amenable to Uber as most cities in the U.S. have. At the beginning of 2015, Kalanick pulled the plug on Uber service in Spain after the nation's court ruled that it created unfair competition to local taxi drivers. Thailand has also called for Uber to halt its services because of its use of unlicensed drivers. All of this comes on top of reports of accusations that Uber drivers have acted inappropriately toward or harmed customers.

    Often, Kalanick’s rush to respond has gotten him in trouble, like when he reacted to reports that a vice president at Uber suggested that he would dig up dirt on a journalist that was publishing critical pieces about the company. Kalanick apologized for the VP’s response, but he didn’t fire the executive, as many critics called for.

    It doesn’t look like Kalanick is planning to slow down anytime soon, though. He was most recently rumored to have had a fling with actress Gwyneth Paltrow. With this much on his plate, starting a family may not be top of mind.

    特拉维斯•卡拉尼克，Uber

    如果你打算进入一个抗拒变化的行业，比如出租车服务业，你必须愿意承担风险。果敢而有些急性子的卡拉尼克现在38岁，仅用了五年时间，他就将打车服务商Uber变成了一家炙手可热的科技公司。一路走来，他就像一位不知疲倦的斗士，与美国及海外的地方与联邦监管部门，以及劳工组织不断抗争。

    去年十二月份，Uber委托高盛向该公司的高端客户融资10亿美元，并按公司最终IPO的目标估值（520亿美元）折让30%。如今，随着上市传闻愈演愈烈，卡拉尼克和他的公司正面临其他新兴初创公司的挑战，比如以更低成本提供同样服务的Lyft。

    此外，在有些国家，Uber并不像它在美国大多数城市那样受欢迎。2015年伊始，由于西班牙法院判决Uber造成了对当地出租车司机的不公平竞争，这家打车服务商终止了在该国的运营业务。泰国也要求Uber停止在其境内提供服务，原因是该公司使用了无牌照的司机。除此之外，还有各种关于Uber司机行为不当或伤害乘客的指控。

    卡拉尼克匆忙回应的方式，常常令他陷入麻烦。例如有报道称，一位Uber副总裁提议挖掘一位批评该公司的记者的丑闻，卡拉尼克就这番言论正式道歉，但他并没有像许多批评人士要求的那样，将这位高管解雇。

    卡拉尼克似乎并不打算尽快放松下来。最近又传出他与女演员格温妮丝•帕特洛的绯闻。鉴于卡拉尼克还要面对如此多难题，成立家庭肯定不是他的第一要务。

    Brian Chesky, AirBnB

    He’s a 30-something billionaire without a full-time home. It’s probably not a surprise that the AirBNB CEO has yet to tie the knot. He’s too busy traveling, trying out AirBnBs, and growing his business to a reported $10 billion valuation.

    AirBNB certainly faces its fair share of growing pains, including allegations of shady customers who either leave their rentals a mess or never leave. The company must also contend with municipal governments, like New York City’s, that have taken issue with AirBNB’s business strategy. Chesky and his firm face legal challenges over apartment tenants’ right to sublease their home for a day or two.

    Still, as AirBnB grows up, so might Chesky. He’s reportedly dating, so who knows, wedding bells could be on the horizon.

    布莱恩•切斯科，AirBnB

    他是一位30岁出头的亿万富翁，尚无家室。房屋租赁公司AirBnB的CEO至今单身其实并不意外。他每天都忙于出差，完善AirBnb，将这家公司的估值增长至100亿美元。

    AirBnB同样面临着成长中的烦恼，比如名声不佳的客户在搬家时，将租住的房子弄得一团糟，或者拒不搬走。该公司还要与一些不认同AibBnB商业模式的市政府进行斗争，比如纽约市。此外，公寓租客是否有权利将房屋短期转租，也令切斯科和他的公司面临法律挑战。

    不过，随着AirBnB不断成长，切斯科或许也有类似转变。有消息称他已经开始约会，或许很快就能听到他结婚的消息。

    Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos

    Holmes is used to starting early. After all, she founded Theranos, a blood diagnostic company, during her sophomore year at Stanford. Still in her teens, she dropped out of college and developed the concept for what is now a potentially revolutionary force in the diagnostic lab industry. By using a fraction of the amount of blood most labs require, Theranos can test over 200 of the most common blood diagnostics. It has made Holmes, only 30, one of the youngest billionaires in the world.

    All the attention on blood tests has left little time for the heart. She recently admitted to USA Today that if she’s married to anyone, it’s her company.

    伊莉莎白•霍尔姆斯，Theranos

    霍尔姆斯习惯了凡事尽早。她在斯坦福大学二年级时创建了血液诊断公司Theranos。在十几岁的时候，她为了一个信念从斯坦福退学，如今这个信念变成了诊断实验领域一股革命性的力量。Theranos仅需要大多数实验室所需血液量的很少一部分，便可以完成超过200项最常见的血液诊断。这也让年仅30岁的霍尔姆斯成为全世界最年轻的亿万富翁之一。

    霍尔姆斯将全部精力都投入到血液检测事业当中，因此她没有时间考虑个人问题。她最近向《今日美国》坦言，如果说她已成家，那个配偶就是她自己的公司。（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    审校：任文科