Shorter tenures and a growing pipeline of first-time chief executives are changing the top job, even as U.S. CEO exits ease in 2026.
A record 234 chief executives left their posts in 2025 at companies in the 13 stock indexes tracked by Russell Reynolds Associates (RRA), up 16% from 2024 and 21% above the eight-year average. It was the second consecutive record year, according to RRA.
The more consequential shift may be what happens after those departures. New CEOs are increasingly entering the job without prior CEO experience, while the average tenure of outgoing chiefs continues to shorten. That gives boards a narrower window to assess whether a new leader is working.
Boards are giving new CEOs less time
Outgoing CEOs served an average of 7.1 years in 2025, down from 7.4 in 2024 and 8.3 in 2021, according to RRA. The number of CEOs leaving within 30 to 36 months of taking the job rose 79% from a year earlier. Eleven CEOs left within their first year, matching RRA's highest recorded count.
RRA’s life-cycle analysis found that the strongest CEO performance often becomes clearer in years three through five. That makes the rise in exits around the 30- to 36-month mark significant. Some leaders may be exiting just as their longer-term performance would otherwise become easier to assess.
Laura Sanderson, co-lead of the firm’s board and CEO advisory practice, said the early years traditionally gave CEOs time to clarify their mandate, build relationships and align senior teams.
The data does not establish why boards are acting sooner. RRA points to market volatility and greater scrutiny from boards and activist investors as factors that can increase pressure on CEOs.
First-time CEOs take most of the openings
Of 213 CEO appointments at those companies in 2025, 86% went to first-time CEOs. Some were internal promotions tied to succession plans, while others were external hires. Spencer Stuart found that most first-time CEOs had previously served as chief operating officers or divisional leaders.
That experience can provide exposure to large parts of a business, but running a division or function is different from being accountable for the entire company. A first-time CEO may have less precedent to rely on when decisions affect investors, employees, boards and regulators at once.
RRA argues that boards should reconsider how they define CEO readiness. For first-time chiefs, prior experience may be only part of the test. Learning agility, decision-making under pressure and the ability to build a senior team quickly may matter just as much. How boards assess those qualities is less clear from the data.
The harder question is how consistently boards can evaluate those qualities before handing someone the top job.
The average age of departing CEOs fell to a record-low 51.5 in December 2025, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the youngest monthly average since 2002.
Women accounted for 27.6% of new CEOs through August, up from 25.1% a year earlier, the firm said. RRA reported that women accounted for about 7% of outgoing CEOs globally, also an increase from the prior year.
Planned succession is becoming more common
Planned successions accounted for 32% of global CEO departures in 2025, up from 22% in 2024, according to RRA. They also surpassed retirements as a share of departures for the first time.
The shift may indicate that boards may be taking a more deliberate approach to leadership transitions. But the data does not show whether planned successions produce better CEO performance or business outcomes.
U.S. CEO exits are easing, but the picture is uneven
Public companies recorded 446 CEO exits in 2025, up from 373 in 2024 and the highest number since Challenger began tracking the data in 2002. Across U.S. organizations, the first quarter of 2025 produced a quarterly record of 646 exits.
Through August 2026, Challenger counted 1,226 exits across U.S. organizations, 18% fewer than the 1,504 recorded during the same period a year earlier and the lowest year-to-date total since 2022.. Public-company exits through July stood at 205, down 25% from 273.
The decline does not mean leadership pressure has disappeared. Workday, PayPal and The Washington Post changed CEOs in early 2026.
February exits fell 42% from a year earlier to 142, and Challenger said companies appeared to pause CEO decisions. After a heavy March, exits fell to 121 in April from 170. August reversed the pattern, with exits rising 55% to 186 from 120 in July and 27% from 146 in August 2025.
Andy Challenger, the firm’s chief revenue officer, said companies have been holding on to leaders after three years of rising exits despite pressure from AI, higher costs, regulation and inflation. He attributed the August increase to companies reviewing leadership ahead of the final quarter.
Through August, 340 CEOs had stepped down and 327 had retired.
The sector picture is mixed. Government and nonprofit organizations recorded 344 exits through August, up from 316, while technology exits fell 22% to 126 from 162. Hospitals moved in the opposite direction, recording 88 CEO exits through July, up 13% from 78.
A recession could change the direction again
A recession is one scenario that could push CEO turnover higher, Andy Challenger said. Laura Mantoura, a managing director in RRA’s U.S. board and CEO advisory practice, also expects turnover to remain elevated.
The two datasets are not interchangeable. RRA tracks CEOs at companies in 13 stock indexes worldwide, while Challenger counts exit announcements across U.S. sectors, including government and nonprofits. A cooling U.S. count does not conflict with RRA’s global record for 2025.
For boards, the current slowdown could provide time to strengthen succession plans and identify potential replacements before a leadership change becomes urgent.
But the underlying challenge remains. If CEO tenure continues to compress, boards may have to make high-stakes judgments about first-time leaders before those executives reach the three-to-five-year period when their performance may become easier to evaluate. The shorter the runway, the more important the quality of the succession decision becomes.
