July 08--The number of CEOs leaving their posts surged in June, according to a report Wednesday.
CEO turnover saw a month-to-month increase of 13 percent in June, when 102 company chiefs departed their jobs, said the report released by Challenger, Gray Christmas.
Notable exits include the chiefs at Toys R Us, Twitter and Boeing. On average, five CEOs left their posts each business day in June.
Still, the number of CEOs exiting their jobs in the first half of this year is down 11 percent since last year.
June exits aren't unusual. Last year at the same time 103 CEOs left their jobs, the report said. Most of the CEO turnover this year comes from government and nonprofit sectors, according to the report.
"We're seeing a little more stability in the CEO suite this year," said John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray Christmas. "Right now, 2015 is on track to have the lowest CEO turnover since 2011," he said, adding that the stable economy was likely contributing to stemming the tide of CEO departures this year.
Despite the June surge in CEO departures, turnovers in the second quarter were down from both the previous quarter and the same quarter a year ago.
In the second quarter ending June 30, 289 CEOs had left their jobs. That was 2 percent lower than the exits tracked in the second quarter of last year. It was 3.3 percent lower than the CEO exits tracked in the first quarter of 2015, the report said.
crshropshire@tribpub.com
