Russell Reynolds Associates’ Global CEO Turnover report 2024 is out with some eye-opening insights on CEO movements, gender parity, and role of AI in recent tech leadership exits. 

Why are CEO exits on the rise?

According to the report, 2024 alone saw 202 global CEO departures from biggest listed companies in the world, owing to investor activism, technological disruptions, as well as, retirements making way for young leaders. The turnover is the highest of all time, showing a 9 percent increase from 2023, and the average of six years data stood at 186. 

In addition to this, an analysis of 13 global stock indices show that about 43 CEOs departed their companies within three years of their appointments, as activist investor patience for underperformance dried out.

But, most indices saw higher CEO turnover, with the S&P 500 losing 58 CEOs last year—a 21 percent increase from 2023 and the second highest on record. 

Despite political and economic challenges, its boards largely retained their CEOs, with only 12 departures in 2024—a 14 percent drop from 2023. 

Other additional key findings from the study are: 

State of gender representation 

The analysis shows that in 2024, 24 women became CEOs, which is 11 percent of all new appointments. This is the second highest number in the study, though slightly down from 12 percent in 2023. It also reflects that global CEO gender parity will take 72.5 years at the current pace, an improvement from last year’s estimate of 81 years. However, achieving parity still remains a lifetime away, highlighting the need for faster progress. 

Showing some positivity on CEO gender parity are the DAX and FTSE 100 indices with 33.8 and 39 years remaining, respectively. With companies focusing more on succession plans and CEO turnover at an all-time high, more opportunities are opening up for women to step into CEO roles once held by men.

Role of AI in tech CEO exits 

According to the report, the technology sector saw the highest CEO turnover globally, with a record 40 tech CEOs stepping down in 2024. This is an alarming 90 percent increase from 2023. The reason being, AI disrupting business models, and emphasis on leaders to not only drive technological progress but also cultural, commercial, and organisational change. Consequently, the tech CEO class of 2024 stands out from other sectors. Interestingly, only 8 percent of incoming tech CEOs held CEO experience previously. Mainly because boards sought leaders with a mix of deep technical knowledge, customer focus, and the ability to manage rapid growth and transformation.

Additionally, the need for agility has made the COO role the top incubator for CEO talent across all sectors. With the ability to understand how technological change impacts not only business models but also people, culture, and supply chains, 21 percent of all incoming CEOs in 2024 are coming from COO positions.

Sean Roberts, Consultant and Member of Tech Practice at RRA commented, “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.” 

Rise in first-time CEOs? Why CEOs exit?

Around 85 percent of incoming CEOs in 2024 were first-time CEOs, stepping into the role without any prior C-suite experience. This shows a mix of improved succession planning and growing challenges of the CEO role are making it less common to see the same person repeatedly taking on CEO positions across multiple companies. Hence, making it rarer for CEOs to have multiple stints in the role. A wave of CEO retirements has a key role to play in this. Why? Increasing pressures from policymakers and investors caused approx. 30 percent of departing CEOs to retire completely from their executive roles, rather than moving to another position.

As a result, 2024 stands out to be the year of planned successions with 22 percent of all CEO exits to be part of a planned succession process, with 73 percent of incoming CEOs being promoted from within the organisation.

Interestingly, this trend is even higher in the tech industry, where 84 percent of all incoming CEOs were internal hires.

Laura Sanderson, Co-Head of Europe, Middle East & India at RRA explained, “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.”

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In recent years, the role of the CEO has significantly evolved, with leaders facing increasing and often conflicting demands from all business stakeholders including employees. In addition to this, balancing remote work and office mandates, sustainability goals, geopolitical involvement, and economic pressures across industries is an add on. As CEOs face more public scrutiny and pressure than ever before, many have opted not to take on repeat CEO positions, choosing instead to become one-time CEOs who move into board or non-executive roles after their tenure.