US CEO departures are at their highest level in decades
Walmart’s Doug McMillon is the latest to step down, as CEO turnover rises across Corporate America.
Last Friday, Walmart announced that its longtime CEO, Doug McMillon, will step down next January, ending nearly 12 years at the helm — a period in which Walmart’s share price rose more than 300%.
Calling it quits
McMillon is hardly alone in calling time on his big job. Fellow retailers have seen turnovers, too, including Kohl’s Ashley Buchanan (who lasted just five months) and Target’s veteran Brian Cornell, who also plans to step down next January. Big Tech has also seen changes at the top: X’s Linda Yaccarino exited in July, and Spotify’s Daniel Ek said in September he’ll shift into the company’s executive chairman role after 20 years as CEO.
Indeed, America’s C-suite is turning over at its fastest pace in decades. CEO exits hit a record high last year, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which has tracked departures since 2002 — and 2025 is looking nearly as intense. So far this year, 1,650 CEOs have departed through September, essentially matching the 1,652 logged in the same period in 2024.
So, what’s driving it?
One explanation is that more CEOs are simply hitting retirement age. Last year, for the first time, half of active S&P 1500 CEOs were over 60, executive search firm Spencer Stuart found.
But the exec-odus isn’t just about aging out. Some sectors are churning far faster than others. Tech CEO exits are running 10x the overall rate, per estimates from Russell Reynolds Associates, as investors raise the bar for tech leaders in the age of AI. Growing activist pressure is another major driver, which forced out a record 27 CEOs last year — well above the four-year average of 16 — often swooping in after just six quarters of lagging returns.
McMillon’s exit, though, reflects perhaps a less dramatic trend: planned successions, which made up 22% of CEO exits last year — the highest share ever, per RRA — as companies opt for experienced insiders in nearly three-quarters (73%) of cases. One of them is Jon Furner, a 30-year Walmart lifer who will take over McMillon’s role next year.
And with many CEOs often compensated primarily in equity, the runaway stock market of the last 24 months will have helped those retirement plans to no end.
