The shirtless CEO will see you now.

The era of the buff business leader has arrived (usually after a 5 a.m. workout and a breakfast of water and black coffee to maintain an intermittent fast). 

Recently, Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos flashed biceps that stretched his T-shirt. Celebrity talent agent Ari Emanuel romped on Elon Musk’s yacht with ripped abs in full view. On Instagram, video gaming executive Strauss Zelnick posed in skin-tight purple spandex, talent executive Scooter Braun tended to his muscles in an ice tub and Telegram chief executive Pavel Durov stood bare chested in an infinity pool next to the caption, “Should I start posting photos here more often?”

Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel sprays Tesla CEO Elon Musk onboard a yacht this summer.

Photo: ThePhotOne / BACKGRID

The latest power move for middle-aged men: looking like an ad for protein powder. Maybe two years of remote work allowed business leaders to redirect their mogul energy into exercise. Or perhaps their muscle-bound peacock preening reflects a new stage of life—Mr. Bezos, 58 years old, is in a paparazzi-covered romance, and Mr. Emanuel, 61 years old, is newly remarried to a fashion designer. Or it could just be a competitive midlife impulse, a desire to look better than the next guy facing the same old age. 

Whatever the reason, the shred has become a 2022 corporate status symbol, taunting some men in midlife the way the push for physical perfection has long dogged women. 

“I don’t really believe in celebrating the Dad Bod or any other lack of fitness,” said Jason Oppenheim, 45 years old, a high-end real estate broker in Los Angeles whose muscles bulge on the reality show “Selling Sunset.” “I would almost have to question someone’s drive and intelligence and ambition if they completely ignore mental and physical health.”

Real estate broker Jason Oppenheim and his TV-ready biceps.

Photo: Courtesy of Jason Oppenheim

It used to be that men were judged by their shoes and their watches. But old assumptions that men could look like trolls as long as they were rich shifted when professional women began to wield their own financial power. The picture of success is not necessarily a CEO at a desk, but a boss who likes to post burpee videos.

“I think the pandemic and work from home really created the opportunity for C-Suite executives to focus on their fitness,” said Mark Cuban, an entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team. The bragging rights that used to come with working long hours now apply to squeezing in a workout, he said. Consider the photo of Mr. Emanuel playfully spraying Mr. Musk with a hose on a yacht in Mykonos. “Ari got all the attention because of how incredibly fit he was,” Mr. Cuban said.  

After the photos unleashed a round of Elon Musk body shaming, the billionaire remarked on his own figure. “Haha damn, maybe I should take off my shirt more often,” read his partial tweet. Mr. Musk, 51, later posted that he was practicing intermittent fasting and had already lost 20 pounds. “I’ve got to work out and be in better shape,” Mr. Musk recently told the podcast “Full Send,” adding that he wants to exercise for 20 minutes when he gets up instead of reading his phone. “I actually don’t really like working out,” he said.

Female executives have long pursued acts of extreme fitness. That women must strive to be in great shape is a tale as old as time. But a male executive’s appearance, barely acknowledged in years past, now routinely factors into his public profile and creates a beauty standard all its own.  

Jeff Bezos, in a tight tee, riding on horseback.

Photo: Courtesy of Lauren Sanchez/@laurenwsanchez

The gender playing field has shifted, said New York divorce lawyer Nancy Chemtob. Men want Revenge Bods—a term often applied to women that describes a newly reworked physique post-breakup. And women want greater fitness from male partners, she said.

“Now it’s like, ‘Why would you go out with him? He’s a slob, he’s fat, he buys his clothes at Costco, ’” said Ms. Chemtob, relaying what her newly single female clients tell her.

“If you look at these powerhouse men, they’re all thin, it’s almost like it’s unacceptable not to be,” she said. “Blackstone, BlackRock, Goldman. There’s just very little body fat.”

Video gaming executive Strauss Zelnick after a bike ride in Hudson, NY.

Photo: Courtesy of Strauss Zelnick

Mr. Zelnick, who favors twice daily workouts and says he exercises up to 12 times per week, is not dad-bodding it and neither are friends like Mr. Emanuel, chief executive of media company

Endeavor. On a recent visit to Mr. Emanuel’s office in Beverly Hills, Mr. Zelnick said, the executive took phone calls and wrote emails while walking at a treadmill desk. Mr. Emanuel, who did not walk during his actual meeting with Mr. Zelnick, declined to comment.

“I’ve been teased about shirtless pictures online, but I take comfort in the fact that they actually look like me,” said Mr. Zelnick, 65 years old, chief executive of the entertainment company Take-Two Interactive, arguing that social media is full of Photoshopped male muscles. He posts less flattering shots along with the good ones, he added.

Walker & Dunlop CEO Willy Walker and his son Charlie.

Photo: Courtesy of Willy Walker

Willy Walker, 55, chief executive of the publicly traded real estate finance company Walker & Dunlop,

has gone helicopter-skiing in Chile and cycled with former Tour de France riders. He ran the Boston Marathon in 2:36 and, over the last couple of years, weight-trained to such a degree that his abs went berserk. “I have an eight pack,” he said, though he doesn’t post it on Instagram. “That feels a little bit too self aggrandizing,” he said.

When he travels for work, he almost always brings exercise gear with him, even on the NetJet. “I will routinely show up at the plane and the pilots say, ‘Do you have a bike today, Mr. Walker?’” he said. The executive also keeps a list of hotels that have rowing machines. “My buddies are like, ‘Dude, you’re ripped,’” he said. 

When asked about possible downsides to exercising so much, Mr. Walker said there aren’t any, other than the degree of physical risk to his adventurous lifestyle.

“That’s something my board of directors understands,” he said. “It’s just me being me.”

Write to Ellen Gamerman at ellen.gamerman@wsj.com