Clockwise from top: Former Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun (CNBC), Former Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan (Getty Images), Former Nike CEO John Donahoe (Reuters), Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger (Getty Images)
TL:CNBC | TR: Getty Images | BL: Reuters | BR: Getty Images
Retired, ousted or poached: CEOs headed for the exits this year.
U.S. publicly traded companies have announced 327 CEO changes this year through November, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
That's more than in any other year since at least 2010, when the company first started tracking sales. It is also an increase of 8.6% from last year.
The turnover also included CEOs of American companies that have long dominated their industries Boeing, Nike And Starbucks. The pace of change suggests that these companies' customers, investors, hedge funds and boards are growing impatient with revenue declines or strategic missteps in an otherwise strong economy, as consumers prove they are willing to spend.
CEO changes slowed during the pandemic, as companies suddenly found themselves faced with lockdowns, remote work, supply chain issues and shortages, if not outright survival. Later, they faced higher borrowing costs, inflation, labor shortages, changing consumer preferences and other challenges.
In the past 14 years, 2021 had the lowest number of replacements at 197.
“The cost of capital and the speed of transformation are accelerating revenue,” said Clarke Murphy, managing director and former CEO of Russell Reynolds Associates, a leadership consultancy.
Murphy said it was easier to stand out for poor performance in an otherwise strong market.
“In years of 20-plus percent S&P [500] coming back two years in a row, any company that significantly underperforms has been put in the spotlight and boards have moved more quickly than they might have done five or seven years ago,” Murphy said.
Consumer-facing companies, which are more sensitive to changing tastes and trends, tend to have higher revenues than industries such as oil and gas or utilities, which often have internal CEOs with longer tenures.
The recent sales spike comes at a time when the number of listed companies has fallen.
Here are some of the most significant US CEO changes so far this year:
Intel
The semiconductor company ousted CEO Pat Gelsinger earlier this month, nearly four years after he was appointed to turn around the chipmaker and better compete with its rivals.
IntelThe company's stock price and market share had collapsed as the wave of artificial intelligence boosted the chipmaker Nvidia while Intel struggled to break into the business.
A successor has not yet been appointed.
Boeing
The aerospace giant announced the departure of former CEO Dave Calhoun in March as part of a broad executive shake-up. It happened almost three months after an unsecured door plug blew loose in mid-air on a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 flown by Alaska Airlinesplunging the company into another security crisis after years of problems in its defense and commercial aerospace businesses, frustrating the leaders of some of its largest aerospace customers.
Calhoun himself was appointed in the final days of 2019 to succeed ex-CEO Dennis Muilenburg, who was ousted over his handling of the aftermath of two fatal crashes of Boeing's 737 Max in 2018 and 2019.
Boeing's new CEO Kelly Ortberg visits the company's factory for the 767 and 777/777X programs in Everett, Washington, U.S. on August 16, 2024.
Boeing | Marian Lockhart | Via Reuters
Calhoun was succeeded in August by Kelly Ortberg, an aerospace industry veteran and former CEO of Rockwell Collins, who Florida-based Boeing brought out of retirement to keep the company stable.
Amid a labor strike that ended last month, Ortberg announced thousands of layoffs and cut costs elsewhere to save money as Boeing works to stabilize production.
Starbucks
With sales in the largest markets shrinking, Starbucks poached Chipotle Mexican Grill star CEO Brian Niccol is set to turn around the coffee chain's fortunes, replacing Laxman Narasimhan. The company's shares rose nearly 25% when Niccol's appointment was announced in August.
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccols speaks to CNBC on October 31, 2024.
CNBC
In the 100 days since his appointment, he has announced plans to “take the company back to Starbucks” and refocus on what first drew customers to the coffee chain. The first stages of the strategy include making the coffee shops more welcoming, trimming the extensive menu and speeding up service.
Chipotle, meanwhile, named industry insider and industry veteran Scott Boatwright to the helm of its Mexican food chain in November.
Nike
The shoemaker replaced CEO John Donahoe in September with Elliott Hill, a company veteran who started as an intern at Nike in the 1980s.
Donahue had helped Nike grow sales since he took over, from $39.1 billion in fiscal 2019 to $51.4 billion in fiscal 2024, but growth ultimately stagnated after he distanced himself from wholesale partners like Foot Locker and Macyand lost sight of innovation.
Platoon
The home fitness equipment company, a darling of the pandemic, had struggled since return-to-office mandates came in.
In 2022, Peloton brought in former Spotify and Netflix executive Barry McCarthy to take over from founder John Foley, but he stepped down in May after the company announced another restructuring.
In October, Peloton announced Peter Stern, a former Ford executive and Apple Co-founder of Fitness+ as third CEO. Stern has a background in expanding subscription-based services, and Wall Street is hopeful he will make Peloton profitable by cutting costs and focusing on high-margin subscription revenue.
Kohl's
In an aerial view, a customer walks in front of a Kohl's store on November 26, 2024 in San Rafael, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Kohl's CEO Tom Kingsbury will step down on January 15, the department store outside the mall announced late last month, and he will be succeeded by Ashley Buchanan of craft mecca Michaels.
Kohl's has seen its comparable store sales, a key metric for retailers, decline in each of the past 11 quarters, and its stock price has fallen.
WW International
The weight-loss company, formerly known as Weight Watchers, announced in September that CEO Sima Sistani would step down immediately.
WW International has struggled, with shares down more than 80% this year. Fed up, it reoriented itself under Sistani's tenure and created a platform that connects customers with popular weight-loss drugs.
— CNBC's Gabrielle Fonrouge and Amelia Lucas contributed to this report.