Last year marked a wave of transformation and turnover in the C-suites of Fortune 500 companies. Fortune launched the Fortune 500 Power Moves series just before the start of 2025, and throughout the year tracked appointments, promotions, resignations, and retirements of Fortune 500 leaders.
After a break for the holidays, 2026 is in full swing, and so are announcements about executive shifts. But before we dive into this week’s Fortune 500 Power Moves, below are highlights and patterns we observed in 2025.
Fortune 500 Power Moves: 2025 in review
The rise of the bro-co-CEO…
A handful of companies opted to put two men in charge instead of just one. Oracle (No. 87), Comcast (No. 35), and Spotify (No. 246 on the Fortune Europe 500) got in on the trend. Read more: The new bro-co‑CEO club—and why women are left out
…and a declining number of women at the top
With the departure of Priscilla Almodovar from Fannie Mae (No. 25) and Toni Townes-Whitley from Science Applications International (No. 496), the Fortune 500 lost two women of color CEOs in just one October week. That leaves just six CEOs of Fortune 500 companies who are women of color, and barring any yet-to-be-announced moves, 54 women CEOs by the end of Q1 2026. That’s one fewer than a peak in mid-2025 as political trends devaluing diversity blend with changes to succession plans and corporate structures.
Intra-company advancements
- Walmart (No. 1) announced in November that current CEO Doug McMillon would retire at the end of January 2026, to be succeeded by Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner.
- The month prior, the ranking’s bookend, Vulcan Materials (No. 500), promoted its former COO Ronnie Pruitt to the CEO spot.
- Hertz Global Holdings (No. 440) promoted Mike Moore to COO from his role as EVP, Technical Operations at the company.
- And earlier in the year, Charter Communications (No. 79) promoted Jake Perlman to the newly created role of EVP, Chief Technology and Information Officer. Perlman previously served as EVP, Software Development and IT at Charter.
Intra-500 job-hopping
Meanwhile, many changed suites from one Fortune 500 company to another. Here are just a few examples:
- Lincoln National (No. 228) appointed Tom Anfuso, previously Managing Director and CTO at JPMorgan Chase (No. 11), as SVP and CTO.
- New York Life Insurance (No. 69) appointed Deepa Soni, formerly Chief Information and Operations Officer at the Hartford Insurance Group (No. 162), as EVP and CIO.
- Intel (No. 86) appointed Cindy Stoddard, formerly SVP and CIO of Adobe (No. 201), as SVP and CIO.
- Kraft Heinz (No. 166) appointed Steve Cahillane, who most recently served as CEO of Kellanova (No. 332), as CEO.
- Nordstrom (No. 291) appointed Kelly Dilts, most recently CFO of Dollar General (No. 139), as CFO. She succeeded former Nordstrom CFO Cathy Smith, who left the company in March to join Starbucks (No. 126) as CFO.
Comings and goings amidst controversy
- Intel (No. 86) replaced longtime CEO Pat Gelsinger with semiconductor industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan, who was criticized, then praised, by U.S. President Donald Trump.
- UnitedHealth (No. 3) CEO Andrew Witty stepped down abruptly in May, citing personal reasons amid the company’s poor financial performance. Chairman and former CEO Stephen Helmsley succeeded him.
- Kohl’s (No. 261) CEO Ashley Buchanan was fired just months into the job after he was found to be steering the company toward a vendor with whom he had a conflict of interest. Chairman Michael Bender succeeded him.
- Kroger (No. 27) CEO Rodney McMullen abruptly resigned in March after an investigation by the company’s board that uncovered “personal conduct that, while unrelated to the business, was inconsistent with Kroger’s Policy on Business Ethics.” In August, a Cincinnati judge ordered McMullen to disclose specifics.
A legend passes the torch
On the first day of 2026, Greg Abel took over as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (No. 6), ending Warren Buffett’s six decades of leadership of the company. Abel previously led the company’s noninsurance businesses.
Read on below for the executive moves announced in the first full week of 2026.
Fortune 500 Power Moves: Dec. 20, 2025–Jan. 9, 2026
Energy
- NRG Energy (No. 153) appointed Robert J. Gaudette CEO, effective April 30. Gaudette currently serves as EVP, President of NRG Business and Wholesale Operations, and will succeed Lawrence Coben, who will transition to an advisory role after April 30.
- Exelon (No. 192) appointed Tim Peterson to the new role of EVP and Chief Customer and Technology Officer, effective in February. Peterson currently serves as SVP, CIO and CTO at Xcel Energy (No. 319).
Engineering and construction
- Toll Brothers (No. 390) appointed Karl K. Mistry CEO, effective March 30. Mistry, a 22-year veteran of the company, currently serves as EVP, managing the company’s homebuilding operations across 15 states in the East. He will succeed Douglas C. Yearley Jr., who after 16 years as CEO and 36 years with the company will transition to Executive Chairman.
Financials
- AIG (No. 157) appointed Eric Andersen as President and CEO-elect, effective Feb. 16. Andersen currently serves as President at Aon and will succeed Peter Zaffino as CEO after June, at which point Zaffino will transition to executive chair of the company’s board.
Health care
- Viatris (No. 298) appointed Lara Ramsburg to the new role of Chief People and Corporate Affairs Officer. Ramsburg previously served as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at the company. Andrew Enrietti served as the company’s Chief People Officer before transitioning to Chief Administrative and Transformation Officer in August 2025.
Hotels, restaurants, and leisure
- Starbucks (No. 126) appointed Anand Varadarajan as EVP and CTO, effective Jan. 19. Varadarajan previously served as VP, Worldwide Grocery Technology and Supply Chain at Amazon (No. 2) and will succeed Ningyu Chen, who has been serving in the role in an interim capacity since the retirement of Deb Hall Lefevre last September.
Manufacturing and production
- Dow (No. 103) appointed Andre Argenton as Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer, effective Jan. 1. He succeeds A.N. Sreeram, who announced plans to retire from his role as CTO. Argenton, who has been with the company for more than 25 years, previously served as the company’s Chief Sustainability Officer and VP of Environment, Health, and Safety.
Above is a recap of the C-suite developments at America’s highest-revenue-generating companies, organized by sector. Titles included in this roundup: CEOs (Chief Executive Officers), CTOs (Chief Technology Officers), Chief People Officers, and Chief Customer Officers. We also include CFOs (Chief Financial Officers), COOs (Chief Operating Officers), Chief Information Officers (CIOs), CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers), and CHROs (Chief Human Resources Officers) when there are Power Moves within the Fortune 500 announced pertaining to those roles.
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Sources: S&P Global Market Intelligence
