For many Americans, the term CEO is interchangeable with owner. When they think of people like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, they think of him as the owner of the company.
But Musk, and all chief executives, are employees of the companies they work for. They are the highest profile, most well-paid employees, but they are employees nonetheless.
March 2026 CEO turnover by industry vs. 2025
- Government/Non-Profit: 48 CEO exits; 37 in 2025
- Hospitals: 16 CEO exits; 6 in 2025
- Technology: 13; 22 in 2025
- Financials: 8; 13 in 2025
- Health Carp/Products: 12; 16 in 2025
- Entertainment/Leisure: 10; 14 in 2025
- Insurance: 7, 1 in 2025
Source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
And just like employees, CEOs can be fired, and they have been getting fired at an increasing rate, according to the latest data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, viewed by TheStreet.
CEOs have gone through a rollercoaster of turnover during the first quarter of 2026, according to the latest Challenger data, but in the end, the tide is turning for the better for the most high-profile white-collar workers.
“March turnover bounced back from February’s lull, but the broader signal is that boards are no longer churning through CEOs at the breakneck pace they were a year ago. Companies are settling into the leaders they have. After two years of relentless change driven by economic uncertainty, AI disruption, and political volatility, we’re seeing a recalibration rather than a continued acceleration,” said Andy Challenger, labor expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
CEO turnover rebounds from February low, latest Challenger data shows
U.S. corporations fired 170 CEOs in March, up 20% from February, when they let go of 142. However, despite the increase, that total is 4% lower than 2025’s March total of 177.
In the first three months of 2026, 521 CEOs lost their cushy jobs after leaving their companies. While that number sounds high, it is actually down 19% from the 646 Challenger, Gray & Christmas recorded in the same period a year ago.
Still, the CEO landscape is more fraught than it has been in a generation.
Despite the year-over-year decline, Q1 2026 still had the third-highest first-quarter total of CEO exits since Challenger began tracking that stat in 2002, trailing only Q1 2025 and 2024 (622).
For publicly traded companies, exits rose modestly to 29 from a February lull of 26, but again, 2026 was much lower than the 38 CEO exits public companies reported in March 2025. Through the first quarter, 108 CEOs have departed their publicly traded companies, compared to 141 in the same period last year.
And it’s not just dismissals causing these departures. According to Challenger, the standout story in March was retirements.
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Some 59 CEOs retired in March, the highest monthly total since early 2024 and a 59% increase from the 37 recorded last year. Through the first quarter, 139 CEOs have retired, virtually even with the 142 that retired a year ago.
“The surge in retirements is consistent with what we’re hearing. There’s a generation of long-tenured leaders who delayed decisions through the pandemic, then through the 2024 election cycle. They appear to be making those moves now, on their own terms, before market conditions shift again,” said Challenger.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is probably the most high-profile CEO to announce his retirement this year, but he will not hand over the reins to his successor, John Ternus, until September.
Women CEOs make big gains amid turnover
Women are one group that is making strides amid the increased executive turnover over the past three years, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The rate of new CEOs who are women rose to 29.3% in March, the highest monthly rate recorded so far in 2026. Year to date, nearly 27% of new CEOs are women, up from nearly 24% during the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the rate of women CEOs leaving their jobs remained steady at 25% in March, up from 19% in Fbruary. Over the first three months, the outgoing women’s rate was 20%, below the 23% recorded last year.
“Women are stepping into the corner office at a higher rate than a year ago, and departing at a lower one. That combination, if it holds, would mark the first sustained improvement in women’s representation at the CEO level since 2023. The boards that stayed disciplined about leadership pipeline development through last year’s pullback in DEI rhetoric are now seeing the dividend,” said Challenger.
