A whopping 71% of new CEOs of Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul stock exchange-listed top 100 companies were internal hires, showing a strong commitment to growing and retaining internal talent, Korn Ferry found in a recent study.

The report, titled “CEO Succession in Saudi Arabia 2025,” underlined how companies in the region are approaching the critical issue of CEO succession through an in-depth analysis of publicly available data on the Tadawul platform. It also studied demographics, including the age of CEOs, new and first-time CEOs.

Key insights from the report are:

Young leaders: The report highlighted that the average age of CEOs in the region has dropped to 47, based on the analysis of 2024 CEO appointments. Interestingly, around 65% of them stepped into the CEO’s shoes for the first time, reflecting growing confidence in young and local leaders.

Internal hires and balancing roles: Interestingly, the CEO succession report shows that 71% of the total appointments were entirely internal, as organisations showed faith in homegrown talent.

It also underscored that while internal successions offered “speed and continuity” to the business, external hires highlighted “objectivity and development needs” within the company.

Strong Saudization efforts: About 88% of recently appointed CEOs are Saudi nationals, backed by the labour market nationalisation initiatives to elevate local leadership.

“Internal development is currently the quickest path to strengthening Saudi Arabia’s leadership pipeline, while external hires remain key for injecting fresh perspectives,” the report noted.

Slow progress in CEO gender diversity: Of all the new CEO appointments in the region in 2024, none were women. However, a small increase in the number of Saudi women taking on key roles such as Director and other C-suite positions was noted, underscoring a more inclusive leadership ecosystem.

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Commenting on the report findings, Danny Leinders, Head of Executive Search, Middle East & North Africa, said, “As Saudi Arabia accelerates its transformation under Vision 2030, we are seeing companies recalibrate what leadership looks like. This shift towards younger, locally promoted, and first-time CEOs reflects both growing leadership confidence and a maturing talent strategy.

Boards and leadership teams that embrace this change, and plan for it, will be best positioned for long-term resilience.”

It also encouraged organisations to view CEO succession not as a one-off decision but as an integrated component of corporate governance, talent development, and business continuity planning.