In a striking shift at the top of the corporate ladder, CEO departures have surged to an unprecedented level, according to new research by leading executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates. The report reveals that 202 CEOs across major global stock indices stepped down in 2024—a 9% increase from 2023, marking the highest turnover rate on record.
The findings highlight growing pressures on corporate leaders, with activist investors playing a significant role. A notable 43 CEOs departed within just three years of taking the helm, the highest rate since 2018, as boards and shareholders demand faster results and greater accountability.
This trend is further underscored by a parallel survey from a prominent outplacement firm, which corroborates the rising tide of executive exits. The data paints a clear picture: the role of the CEO is becoming increasingly precarious in an era of heightened scrutiny, rapid market shifts, and evolving stakeholder expectations.
As companies navigate this wave of leadership changes, the search for resilient, adaptive, and visionary leaders has never been more critical. The question now is not just who will fill these roles, but how they will steer organizations through an increasingly complex and demanding business landscape.
This version maintains a prestigious tone, emphasizes key data points, and frames the news as both a challenge and an opportunity for the corporate world.
Here are the details of the news…
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Record CEO turnover in 2024: AI, investor activism drive exits; tech sector hit hardest; 85% of new CEOs are first-timers; gender parity improves.
Record number of CEOs left their roles in 2024 as AI and investor activism drive departures
- Globally, 202 CEOs left their roles last year, the highest on record and up 9% YOY
- Across all tracked indices, a record number also lasted less than 36 months on the job in signs of investor impatience for results
- Tech CEO turnover grew globally by 90% as AI drives transformational change
- Worldwide, 85% of incoming CEOs were first-timers – with the nature of the role now including more pressure and scrutiny than ever before, fewer candidates consider repeating the role
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Last year saw the highest global CEO turnover on record* as investor activism, technological change and retirements saw 202 CEOs depart their roles.
Russell Reynolds Associates’ 2024 Global CEO Turnover report saw 202 CEOs in the world’s largest listed companies leave their jobs last year, up by 9% from 2023.
The analysis, which tracks incoming and outgoing CEOs from 13 global indices, also found a record number of CEOs (43) departing after less than 36 months as activist investor patience for underperformance ran thin.
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Rusty O’Kelley, RRA Co-Lead Board and CEO Advisory Partners in the Americas said: “In addition to dealing with the needs of employees, investors and other stakeholders, CEOs will also need to carefully manage their relationships with governments, and this may well lead to even higher rates of turnover. The bottom line is that the job just got even harder.”
The majority of indices saw elevated turnover, with the S&P 500 losing 58 CEOs last year – a 21% increase on 2023 and the second highest on record. The FTSE 100, however, bucked this trend. In a year of political change and economic challenges, FTSE boards largely stuck by their CEOs with only 12 departing in 2024, a 14% decrease on last year.
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AI increases tech CEO turnover by 90%
The highest turnover rate globally was in the technology sector. A record 40 tech CEOs left their posts last year, up 90% on 2023. As AI continues to disrupt business models in the sector, leaders must drive through not just technological progress but cultural, commercial and organizational change as well.
As a result, the tech CEO class of 2024 is clearly different to other sectors. Just 8% of incoming tech CEOs last year had previous CEO experience as boards looked for leaders who can combine deep technical understanding, customer centricity and the ability to navigate rapid growth and transformation.
This need for agility has seen COO become the most important incubator for CEO talent across all sectors. An ability to think through how technological change can impact not just business models but people, culture and supply chains has seen 21% of all incoming CEOs in 2024 coming from COO roles.
RRA consultant and member of the Technology Practice, Sean Roberts said: “The technology sector is going through a period of profound change, and this change is being turbo-charged by Gen AI, digital infrastructure investment and continued growth in software. This has triggered the creation of new or growing companies requiring CEO talent. However, we have also seen expectations of increased performance or strategic change have a direct impact on the increase in CEO work.”
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First-time (and only-time) CEOs
The report also found that a combination of improved succession planning and increased pressures of the CEO role are making the serial CEO a rarer sight. The vast majority (85%) of incoming CEOs in 2024 were step-up candidates taking on CEO positions for the first time.
This is partly explained by a wave of CEO retirements. In the context of rising scrutiny from policymakers and investors, almost a third (30%) of departing CEOs decided to retire from the executive role entirely.
As a result, 2024 was a record year for planned successions. Almost a quarter (22%) of all CEO departures occurred as part of a planned succession process with 73% of all incoming CEOs coming from within the organization – an all-time high. This figure was even higher for the tech industry, with 84% of incoming CEOs being internal hires.
Laura Sanderson, Co-Head of Europe, Middle East & India at Russell Reynolds Associates said: “The compounded pressure on CEOs globally has exacerbated the need for adequate succession planning within firms, and last year’s figures tell a hugely positive story for this. Firstly, it’s a sign that boards are being more proactive and long-term in their thinking when it comes to succession planning and it’s also encouraging to see lower levels of CEO removals.”
In recent years, the role of the CEO has undergone significant transformation, with business leaders now incurring heightened and often contradictory demands from employees, shareholders and clients, ranging from remote work and office mandates, sustainability credentials and geopolitical involvement, and economic pressures on most business sectors. In an age where CEOs are subjected to more public scrutiny and pressure than ever before, many have decided to not take on repeat CEO posts, becoming one-time CEOs and graduating to board or NED roles following their tenure.
Gender parity a decade closer, but still a lifetime away
The report’s findings show that it will take 72.5 years to reach global CEO gender parity, at the current rate of change. This shows a significant improvement upon last year’s figures, which predicted 81 years to reach gender parity at current rates. Nonetheless, the goalpost of parity remains a lifetime away, emphasising that the rate of change must accelerate.
The DAX and the FTSE 100 are the indices leading the charge with the fastest acceleration towards gender parity among CEOs, with 33.8 and 39 years remaining, respectively. In 2024, 24 newly appointed women CEOs represented 11% of total appointments – the second highest number of women taking on the post since RRA began collecting data in 2019. With firms placing stronger emphasis on succession plans and CEO churn higher than ever, this creates further opportunities for women leaders to rise to CEO seats previously occupied by men.
*ENDS* 29 January 2025, London
