The vast majority of the world's chief executive officers are working the Web, according to a new study of more than 700 dot-com and traditional CEOs from some of the world's largest companies released today by the marketing division of FORTUNE and the knowledge practice of global communications consultancy, Burson-Marsteller. Globally, Internet usage among CEOs is widespread -- 91% report logging-on. These captains of industry spend an average of 6 hours per week online, with dot-com CEOs spending twice that time online. U.S. CEOs spend more time online than non-U.S. CEOs, averaging 7 and 5 hours respectively. "CEOs understand that the Internet is a critical pathway to growth," said Michael Federle, Publisher of FORTUNE. "The findings underscore the profound impact the Internet is having on the attention and behavior of our world's business leaders." When asked how they have used the Internet in the past six months, 96% of CEOs worldwide responded that they exchanged e-mail, 94% visited online news/info sources and 87% visited their own company's Web site. Notably, a large number, 75%, have monitored their competitors' Web sites. Nearly six out of 10 (57%) CEOs are using the Internet once a day or more often to check their company's share price. Comparatively few respondents have participated in online chats/boards or online auctions. Yahoo! and America Online (AOL) are the most frequently used search engines among CEOs, although non-U.S. CEOs prefer AltaVista to AOL.