- A record number of U.S. CEOs exited their jobs this year, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which said companies are responding to an uncertain landscape by installing temporary leaders.
The year through the end of November has already seen a record number of U.S. chief executives announce their departures, according to outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
A report released on Friday showed that 1,991 CEOs have said they are leaving, the most since the firm began tracking such moves in 2002. The year-to-date figure tops the previous record of 1,914
in all of 2023.
The number includes CEOs of publicly traded corporations, privately held firms, non-profits, and government agencies.
“The current landscape has a lot of uncertainty baked in, and companies are responding by putting
temporary leaders in place. This can act as a trial run to see how the leader navigates current
challenges,” said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, in a statement.
“It’s much less disruptive to replace an interim head if things do not appear to be working out, not only the company and its employees, but also to analysts and shareholders.”
The number of CEO departures at publicly traded U.S. firms also hit a record high, climbing to 327 in the first 11 months of 2024, up from 300 in all of 2023.
Among the recent examples was Pat Gelsinger, who was forced out as Intel CEO earlier this month after the board lost confidence in his turnaround plans. Other big companies that saw turnover in the top job this year include iconic names like Boeing, Starbucks, and Nike.
The government/non-profit sector led all categories in CEO exits with 438 year to date, followed by health care/products (230), technology (208), entertainment/leisure (139), finance (104), real estate (47), energy (43), and industrial goods (41).
The most common reasons for CEO departures were “stepped down” (551), “no reason given” (496), retirement (445), new opportunity (148), and resignation (124). In addition, 95 CEOs left after their interim periods ended.
Meanwhile, seven CEOs left due to allegation of professional misconduct, six cited differences with the board, five were terminated, and three faced allegations of sexual misconduct.
As CEOs leave, other executives may be less eager to take their places. During the Fortune COO Summit in October, many chief operating officers expressed hesitance when asked if they aspired to the top job.
At the same time, there’s less financial incentive to become CEOs as other C-suite jobs get increasingly lucrative as well.
The killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month could intensify the trend away from the corner office.
Jason Baumgarten, head of Spencer Stuart’s Global Board and CEO Practice, told Fortune’s Ruth Umoh and Natalie McCormick earlier this month that society must find ways to make leadership desirable again.
“If you tear those people down all the time, there’ll be nobody left who wants [leadership roles],” he said. “And we need those people.”
