The school was founded in 1916 with 11 full-time faculty members and an inaugural class of 61 students, including 8 women.

[7] In October 2010, Columbia Business School announced that alumnus Henry Kravis, the billionaire co-founder of private-equity firm KKR, pledged $100 million to fund an expansion of Columbia Business School, the largest gift in its history.

[17] Among the most popular electives at Columbia Business School are the Economics of Strategic Behavior, Financial Statement Analysis and Earnings Quality, Launching New Ventures, Modern Political Economy, and the Seminar in Value Investing.

The January-entry is identical to the August-entry option in every way but the schedule: same professors, same rigorous core curriculum, same highly selective admissions standards.

In the fall of the second year, the two tracks become one, and all MBA students choose from the same pool of electives, gain access to the same career management resources, lead the same clubs, and graduate as a single class.

[19] The average starting base salary and bonus for Columbia MBAs in 2020 was $171,436, a sum that places it as the 6th highest among business schools.

Recent national rankings of Columbia's MBA program include 7th by Forbes,[27] 5th by Bloomberg Businessweek,[28] and 6th by U.S. News & World Report.

[39] Because students in the partner EMBA programs must satisfy the separate requirements of each school, they earn an MBA degree from each participating university.

Columbia Business School Executive Education offers custom non-degree programs for organizations[48] and open-enrollment non-degree programs for individuals[49] in topics including management, finance, leadership, marketing, social enterprise, and strategy.

[52] The Certificate in Business Excellence (CIBE) is awarded to students who complete a total of 18 program days of executive education within a four-year period.

[53] Research centers, special programs, institutes, and cross-disciplinary areas at Columbia Business School include:[54] Columbia Business School employs 136 full-time faculty members,[55] including Joseph Stiglitz, the 2001 Nobel laureate in economics who also teaches at the university's School of International and Public Affairs; and Bernd Schmitt, the Robert D. Calkins Professor of International Business.

Hedge fund gurus Joel Greenblatt and Ken Shubin Stein are currently adjunct professors.

Jonathan Knee teaches Media, Mergers, and Acquisitions and is the author of a book titled "The Accidental Investment Banker".

Frederic Mishkin, member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, returned to teach at CBS starting fall 2008.

[56] Rita Gunther McGrath is a well known member of the strategy faculty and the author of four books on the subject, most recently The End of Competitive Advantage: How to Keep Your Strategy Moving as Fast As Your Business (2013, Harvard Business Review Publishing) Steve Blank created the Lean Launchpad class that he teaches a scientific method for teaching entrepreneurship that combines experiential learning with the three building blocks of a successful Lean Startup.