Like I wrote in the post above, one path is to get a Harvard MBA, then work at McKinsey as a management consultant, and eventually use the massive and extremely powerful alumni network of McKinsey to move to a company in a senior executive role. It's also fairly common for consultants to just get offers directly from clients they've helped.
You have to be an absolute workaholic to do it, but it's reliable if followed closely. You can substitute Wharton or a select few other places for Harvard, but overall the name of the business school you went to is by far the most important factor of your entire life-long education when it comes to this path. It doesn't matter even remotely whether you learned anything; you just need the brand name on the resume and you need to practice case interviews. It's one of the most superficial selection processes in the world. It's so extraordinarily superficial that most people wouldn't believe it's true.
