US CEO changes were up 8.9% in March, Challenger says

Faced with disruptive new challengers, C-suite occupants in the US are increasingly opting to make a graceful exit, the results of a survey show.

Around 135-US based companies announced chief executive officer changes last month a 8.9% higher than the 124 CEO changes announced in February, revealed a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Versus a year ago, March's total was 40.6% higher than the 96 CEO exits announced in 2018.

On a longer time frame, in the first quarter of 2019, CEOs at 416 companies left their post, 22% more than the 341 who chose to do so over the same period of 2018.

Of the former, 331 named replacements, of which 263 were men (79.5%) and 68 were women.

The proportion of women replacements was therefore worse than the tally of 23.7% for the first quarter of last year.

By the end of last year, women comprised 22.7% of all CEO replacements.

CEO churn did dip by 2% in the first three months of 2019 when compared to the previous three-month stretch, but it was nevertheless the worst first quarter outcome since 2002.

"We are seeing considerable churn in the chief executive role. Companies are grappling with changing consumer behavior and new technologies disrupting almost all industries," said Andrew Challenger, Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

"A difficult business environment, with economic uncertainty, is causing boards to make changes in their leadership ranks," he added.