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Turnover among chief executive officers (CEOs) globally spiked in the first quarter of 2024. According to the Global CEO Turnover Index, a total of 68 CEOs were appointed, while 52 CEOs departed their roles. This marks the highest Q1 totals for appointments and departures since 2018 and 2020, respectively.

At the same time, the tenure duration of CEOs is increasingly short. The number of CEOs lasting less than two years in the role is rising. Failed CEO appointments—defined in the report as those lasting less than two years—accounted for 15.1% of outgoing CEOs, up from an average of 9.6% since 2019.

For comparison, the average tenure of CEOs in 2023 was 8.1 years.

The report also examined statistics by gender, revealing that women remain significantly underrepresented in the CEO role. Of the 68 CEOs appointed in the first quarter of 2024, only five were women. The report projects: “At the current pace of change, it’s estimated to take 88 years to achieve global gender parity.”

Additionally, nearly a quarter of women CEOs lasted less than two years in their positions. According to the index, women CEOs are more than twice as likely (24.1%) to leave their roles within two years of appointment and are four times more likely to last less than 12 months in the CEO role compared to men.

A similar trend is reflected in the chief financial officer (CFO) role, with turnover spiking in the first quarter of 2024. A total of 82 new CFOs were appointed in Q1 2024, matching the record CFO turnover seen in Q1 2021.

On a more positive note, the number of women appointed as CFOs reached a three-year high. Despite women still being underrepresented in the CFO role, 20 of the 82 CFOs appointed in Q1 2024 were women. This marked the highest number of women CFO appointments since the first quarter of 2021.
Interestingly, over half of the new CFOs (55%) were internal appointments, suggesting that CFO succession plans are coming to fruition.
Lastly, the tech industry saw the highest CFO turnover since Q1 2022 at 6.2%.

The study concludes, “High CFO turnover is reflective of CFOs increasingly being considered as succession candidates for the CEO role, CEOs often replacing their finance leaders within the first year of their tenure, and increased retirement rates among CFOs post-pandemic.”