Over 1,800 CEOs have resigned in 2024, making this the year of the mic drop exit for head honchos

Being a CEO is a tough gig, there’s no doubt. The millstone of responsibility can weigh heavy around the neck, especially if you’re held accountable for the livelihoods of hundreds, thousands, even millions of employees—and that’s before I’ve even mentioned the term “shareholder value.”

Still, the pay package must be nice. Anyway, according to Yahoo Finance, over 1,800 CEOs have announced their retirement up to October of this year, which means there’s likely still a fair few to be added to the list before 2024 is out.

That’s a 19% increase over the 1,500 CEOs dropping their respective mics in the same period in 2023, and a new record for head honchos picking up their retirement packages and presumably heading for sunnier climes.

All of which is somewhat reminiscent of Intel’s Pat Gelsinger, who recently announced his departure from Intel. So recently, in fact, that he won’t be included in the statistics here. It makes you wonder whether some of the other titans of the tech industry will head for their superyacht before the year is out, doesn’t it?

I kid, I kid. Being in the tech writing business, it’s easy to assume that all CEOs are making megabucks, and living the sort of lifestyle we imagine in our heads when we picture life at the top. Someone out there has to have been the head honcho for the “Trousers For Ducks” foundation and decided to hit the bricks in the months past, although now I think of it that might just be my next million-dollar venture.

It’s an untapped market, I’m telling ya.

Still, what’s causing all these chiefs to jump on the farewell wagon? Well, according to David Kass, a professor of finance at the University of Maryland, recent large stock market gains are focussed primarily on a handful of big winners, meaning that boards of underperforming companies are pressuring their respective CEOs to deliver ever-increasing results in response.

That’s a tough act to follow, so maybe it’s no surprise that many CEOs are choosing to jump before they’re pushed, or being given a strongly- worded suggestion to take a graceful dive.

High turnovers are also attributed to “growing risk appetites” and “a desire for leaders who can navigate increasing complexity in the macro business environment, including tech transformation, sustainability, geopolitical crises, and social issues.”

Or maybe it’s simply having to read word salad like that in your inbox every morning when you already have a house in Malibu.

Still, given the sheer number of layoffs we’ve reported on in the gaming and tech industry alone over the past year, it’s perhaps difficult to feel too much sympathy for some of those at the top walking away from their management roles and into the great beyond, with presumably a great big pay package following in tow.