Equilar CEO Tracker: Q3 2020 Update

November 12, 2020

Owen Gilles & Brielle Ferdinand

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Key Findings:

1. 56 announced CEO departures through Q3 2020 versus 80 in all of 2019

2. 14.6% of appointed CEOs in 2020 so far are women versus 12% in all of 2019

3. Only 31.3% of appointed CEOs in 2020 so far are external hires versus 33% in all of 2019.

Equilar 500 companies have announced 56 CEO departures through the third quarter of 2020. This compares to a total of 80 announced CEO departures in all of 2019. Among the 56 CEOs, 43 departed by the end of the third quarter with at least six others expected to leave later this year.

The average CEO lifetime pay for all 56 departing CEOs is $83.9 million with a median of $33 million. Robert Iger of Disney, with a tenure of 14.4 years, earned the highest total CEO lifetime pay at $678.5 million. Hartmut Liebel, with a tenure of 0.9 years, had the lowest CEO pay at $0.5 million.

Through the third quarter of 2020, five female CEOs announced their departures: Virginia M. Rometty (IBM), Marillyn A. Hewson (Lockheed Martin), Cheryl S. Miller (AutoNation), Kathryn V. Marinello (Hertz Global), and Mary A. Laschinger (Veritiv Corporation). Seven women have been appointed CEO so far in the year: Sonia Syngal (The Gap, Inc.), Carol B. Tomé (UPS), Joanne C. Crevoiserat (Tapestry, Inc.), Sue Y. Nabi (Coty Inc.), Linda J. Rendle (The Clorox Company), Jennifer C. Witz (Sirius XM Holdings Inc.), and Jane N. Fraser (Citigroup Inc.). Overall, women appointed as CEOs in the Equilar 500 increased from 6% in 2018 to 12% in 2019. In 2020, 14.6% of CEOs appointed so far are women.

Overall, external appointments increased from 22% in 2018 to 33% in 2019. For all announced appointments through Q3 2020, we have not seen this trend continue, with only 31.3% of newly appointed CEOs coming from external sources.

Departures

Successors

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