This study explores the relationship between top manager characteristics and company corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. Using integral CSR, corporate governance, corporate commitment, social participation and the environmental protection index, we found that the academic degree held by a top manager is the main factor that influences company CSR performance, especially events related to environmental protection. The positive association between top managers’ working experience and CSR is significant only for the environmental protection index. Furthermore, we find that the family-control type of company will influence the associations between top manager characteristics and CSR performance. This study considers the importance of the top managers’ cognitions and reactions for CSR events in CSR performance, while most of the prior studies only consider the influence of managers’ agency problem. Moreover, our results provide evidence to demonstrate that management capability may complement strong governance for family-controlled companies. This study offers deeper insights for capital markets to understand the influence of managers’ background characteristics on company CSR performance. In addition, it provides evidence to recommend a further consideration for family-controlled type on enhancing the CSR of companies.