What are the odds?
An unusually high number of chief executive officers left their positions in 2018. According to Christmas, Gray & Challenger, a whopping 1,452 CEOs departed their perches last year, representing a 24.2% increase from the year before.
The number is the second-highest on record. The highest annual total on record is 1,484, which was during the 2008 recession.
Retirement makes up the bulk of all CEO departures last year (27%), which has been a consistent trend in years’ past. Another 283 CEOs resigned from their positions, while 355 stepped down into other roles within the company, usually as a chairperson.
Only 17.8% of publicly traded companies experienced CEO shuffles. The vast majority of departures were at private companies, including government and nonprofit organizations.
"There's a lot of uncertainty as we begin 2019. While the job market is strong, with low unemployment and strong hiring numbers, the stock market is in near-constant flux; trade concerns loom in many industries, including manufacturing and technology; and the regulatory environment may change with a new Congress," said Andrew Challenger, VP of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
