More CEOs are finding the stress, pressure, and isolation no longer justify the pay
In recent years, corporate leaders have grappled with a myriad of challenges
It's a challenging time to be a CEO, as evidenced by the wave of top executives stepping down.
HSBC's Noel Quinn unexpectedly announced last month that he would step down as the bank's boss once the board selected his successor. Similarly, Paramount Global's Bob Bakish resigned from his role at the media giant, and Dr. Martens' Kenny Wilson recently declared this would be his final year leading the footwear company, reports Entrepreneur.
These departures are part of a larger trend.
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According to reports, the last quarter saw a record 622 CEO changes at US companies, marking a 48% increase from the same period last year and a 27% rise from the previous quarter. This data comes from the staffing firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which has been tracking these changes since 2002.
"C-Level leaders have had an incredibly challenging few years, and are transitioning out of their roles, whether for new opportunities or to get fresh starts elsewhere," Andrew Challenger, the company's senior vice president, said.
"Rapid technological advancements, in addition to an election year, may make it a palatable time to make changes at the top," Challenger added.
In recent years, corporate leaders have grappled with a myriad of challenges, including labor shortages, strikes, layoffs, culture wars, conflicts, the remote-working boom, supply chain disruptions, pandemic shutdowns, historic inflation, surging interest rates, and an increasingly uncertain economic outlook.
Given these pressures, it's not surprising that the median tenure for S&P 500 CEOs has dropped from six years in 2013 to below five years in 2022, according to an analysis of CEO longevity, says Entrepreneur.
A call for help
Top executives have been highlighting the difficulties of their roles for years.
"Being a CEO sucks," Emad Mostaque, the former boss of Stability AI, said in March.
"After an intense five years, it is now the right time for me to get a better balance between my personal and business life," HSBC's Quinn said in a press release, underscoring how top dogs struggle to juggle their jobs with their other responsibilities.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has bemoaned that running a company is "really not that fun" and "just awful" at times. CEOs are burdened with the "crappiest problems in the company" that nobody else can solve, he said.
Musk also lamented in 2022 that he sometimes felt "quite lonely" if he was living alone while working on a project and didn't even have his dog for companionship.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has previously shared his experience as well. "The depths of loneliness I experienced as a CEO are difficult to put into words," he posted on X in January.
The immense pressure, stress, loneliness, and lack of work-life balance that often accompany the role of a CEO likely explain why many do not remain in the position for long. The recent wave of challenges has probably contributed to last quarter's surge in CEO departures.
However, there are exceptions to every trend. Warren Buffett has been the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway for more than half a century.
At 93 years old, Buffett has likely endured due to his strategy of employing an army of CEOs to manage the numerous businesses he has acquired over the years.
"We delegate almost to the point of abdication," he wrote in his "Owner's Manual" for Berkshire shareholders.
Handing off daily responsibilities lets Buffett focus on what he loves to do: allocate capital within and outside his company.
