Ashraf Engineer
September 27, 2025
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Hello and welcome to All Indians Matter. I am Ashraf Engineer.
There’s an interesting and concerning trend being witnessed across India Inc – an unusual uptick in CEO departures this year. Among National Stock Exchange-listed companies, 41 CEOs resigned in the March quarter alone compared to 23 in the same period last year.
For the financial year 2024-25, 141 managing directors or CEOs across 2,590 NSE-listed companies exited. In 2023-24, it was 119 exits across 2,279 companies and in 2022-23 it was 133 exits across 1,994 companies, according to data compiled for the Economic Times by primeinfobase.com.
The resignations come amid a backdrop geopolitical turbulence, market volatility, and massive technological and regulatory changes. It’s a trend being witnessed across the world.
Other than the factors I mentioned, there are also a spate of new opportunities amid a talent crunch at the very top. On the downside, there is heightened scrutiny of CEOs now and lower tolerance for underperformance. It’s a tough job to keep.
SINATURE TUNE
So, why should you care about the large number of CEO exits?
If you invest in stocks, CEO resignations in large numbers can impact your investments through share price volatility. It’s not a connection we make automatically, but it can also mean job insecurity or shifts in business strategy that could impact hirings, supply chains and even the pausing of private investment. New CEOs can bring fresh perspectives, but leadership transitions can also delay crucial decisions, slowing company growth and response to market changes. If it’s a large and listed firm, uncertainty at the top can lead to nervousness in financial markets and impact employee morale as they now have to deal with new management styles and processes.
Critically, if it happens at large scale, CEO departures in volatile economic times, as these are, can signal instability within businesses. This may have wider implications for economic growth and investor confidence.
The role is a huge responsibility as CEOs need to balance priorities of multiple stakeholders. However, with the rapid changes in the economic landscape, many think it’s simply not worth it. Experts say that, for the foreseeable term, the unpredictability will persist – what with rising tariffs and geopolitical upheavals showing no sign of abating. So, many are choosing a slower, less demanding life.
This is why there is an increase in interim CEO appointments. It underscores the need for internal leadership pipelines to ensure organisational stability even amid economic uncertainty.
This is a time of great capital market activity, which means new businesses and business models are being introduced. With India still one of the world’s top investment destinations, there is a demand for Indian CEOs. While this means better offers and the gap with global pay narrowing, it also means leaders are choosing to give up existing positions for more lucrative and exciting ones. Deloitte’s Executive Performance and Rewards Survey covering more than 400 companies showed that the median compensation for non-promoter CEOs in India in 2025 touched Rs 10 crore, a 13% increase over the previous year.
But higher pay also means that boards are more impatient than before. This, in turn, means that CEOs have shorter timelines to deliver.
It’s the same globally. In January this year, the US had 222 CEO exits – 14% higher than the 194 in January 2024 and the highest since global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas started tracking turnover data in 2002. In February 2025, there were 247 CEO exits in the US.
Last year had the highest global CEO turnover on record. Among the many reasons were investor activism, technological change, troubled relationships with governments and retirements. Russell Reynolds Associates’ 2024 Global CEO Turnover report recorded that 202 CEOs among the world’s largest listed companies left – up by 9% from 2023.
A record number of CEOs, 43, left less than 36 months after taking up the post.
Most stock indices saw a high CEO turnover. The S&P 500, for example, lost 58 CEOs last year – a 21% increase from 2023 and the second highest on record.
Among the majors who have had such departures over the past couple of years are Starbucks, Boeing and Nike.
One of the greatest factors has been technological change. In 2024, the technology sector saw the highest CEO turnover with a record 40 leaving – up 90% from 2023. Experts said artificial intelligence, or AI, is disrupting business models. And, CEOs have to negotiate not just the technology but cultural and organisational factors too.
So, just 8% of incoming tech CEOs in 2024 had previous CEO experience. Clearly, boards are looking for leaders who combine technical understanding with the ability to navigate rapid transformation.
Like I said, average CEO tenure is shortening but it seems to be particularly worse for women leaders. The average tenure for female CEOs in the S&P 500 in 2023 was 2.1 years compared to 9.9 years for men. So, forget the glass ceiling, there’s now a “glass cliff”. That theory holds that women are often appointed to senior roles at especially difficult moments and then subjected to even greater scrutiny.
Returning to the general trend, many of today’s challenges have their roots in the COVID-19 pandemic – supply chain issues, high inflation, labour shortages, unpopular return-to-office policies… So, many CEOs find that managing their companies with the added pressure of the factors I listed fatigues them.
Many have said that managing talent is also tougher now. It’s difficult to attract or retain talent in the most valuable roles. This is true especially of younger talent, with its focus on digital technology, including social media and the gamification of work. Many CEOs simply don’t understand how to handle that.
So, many businesses have institutionalised succession planning. The boards want to ensure that there is some backup in case the CEO leaves or is asked to go.
As you can tell, the role has undergone significant transformation.
Business leaders have to deal with heightened and often contradictory demands from stakeholders like investors, employees and clients, as well as modern imperatives like sustainability and ESG. CEOs are under more public, board and regulatory pressure than ever before and many are asking whether it’s worth it.
More than ever, it implies that this is a time for companies to rethink strategies so that they can have leaders capable of navigating these complex and tough times.
Thank you all for listening. Please visit allindiansmatter.in for more columns and audio podcasts. You can follow me on Twitter at @AshrafEngineer and @AllIndiansCount. Search for the All Indians Matter page on Facebook. On Instagram, the handle is @AllIndiansMatter. Email me at editor@allindiansmatter.in. Catch you again soon.
