Jun 15 April CEO Exits Ease to 121; Ytd 2026 Is 25% Below Last Year
Hospital Turnover Holds Elevated; New Women CEOs Hold Near 26% Year-to-Date
The number of CEO changes at U.S. companies fell 29% to 121 in April from 170 in March. It is down 43% from the 214 CEO exits announced in the same month one year prior, according to a report released Friday by global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Through the first four months of 2026, 642 CEO exits have been announced, down 25% from the 860 recorded in the same period last year. April’s total is the lowest monthly figure so far in 2026 and the lightest April since 2024 (126).
“April extends the cooling trend we have tracked all year. After a heavy March, boards pulled back sharply, and the year-to-date pace now sits a full quarter below 2025. Companies are holding onto the leaders they have rather than reaching for change,” said Andy Challenger, labor expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Publicly traded company exits eased in April, as 15 public company CEOs departed. This is down from 29 in March and 38 in April 2025. Through four months, 126 public company CEOs have departed in 2026, compared with 179 in the same period last year.
Retirements remained the leading reason for departure even as the monthly count normalized. Some 28 CEOs retired in April, down from March’s elevated 59 but bringing the year-to-date retirement total to 167, essentially flat with the 197 recorded through April 2025. Stepped Down followed with 37 April exits.
“The retirement wave that crested in March has settled, but the underlying driver has not gone away. A generation of long-tenured leaders is still working through delayed succession decisions, and we expect retirements to remain a primary cause of turnover through the rest of the year,” said Challenger.
WOMEN CEOs
The rate of new CEOs who are women stands at 25.9% year-to-date, up from 25.2% in the same period of 2025 and on pace with last year’s full-year rate of 25.4%. Among April replacements alone, women continued to be appointed at roughly one in four new posts.
“The needle on women’s representation is moving in the right direction, if slowly. The encouraging sign is that the share of women being appointed has held up even as overall hiring volume has fallen, which suggests boards are not deprioritizing pipeline diversity when activity slows,” said Challenger.
WHAT INDUSTRIES SAW EXITS IN APRIL?
Government/Non-Profit led all industries with 30 CEO exits in April, down from 48 in March and from 43 in April 2025. Year-to-date, the sector has recorded 162 exits, the most of any industry.
Hospitals reported 16 CEO exits in April, level with March and up from 15 in April 2025. The sector has posted 50 exits year-to-date, up 9% from 46 in the same period of 2025 — one of the few industries running ahead of last year’s pace.
Technology recorded 12 CEO exits in April, down from 16 a year earlier and 13 in March. Its year-to- date total of 63 trails last year’s 94, a 33% decline. Health Care/Products fell to just 4 exits in April, down sharply from 26 in April 2025; year-to-date the sector has posted 46, down from 86.
Energy held at 6 exits, doubling the 3 recorded in April 2025. Entertainment/Leisure reported 8, down from 16 a year prior. Financial firms reported 7, down from 11 in April 2025. Insurance posted 5 exits, up from a year-ago figure of zero in this dataset. Pharmaceutical ticked up to 4 from 1 a year prior. Consumer Products recorded 4, and Services 3.
WHERE DID CEO EXITS OCCUR YEAR-TO-DATE?
The West led all regions year-to-date with 224 CEO exits through April, down 19% from 277 in the same period of 2025. California posted 77 exits, down from 105 a year prior, and remains the single most active state. Texas followed with 51, down from 69. Colorado again bucked the regional trend at 23 exits, up from 22 a year ago, as did Washington (21 vs. 20) and New Mexico (10 vs. 5).
The East logged 148 CEO exits year-to-date, down 23% from 193 in the same period of 2025. New York led the region with 43 departures, down from 49 a year ago. Pennsylvania declined to 26 from 43, and Massachusetts to 25 from 28.
The South reported 140 CEO exits year-to-date, down 33% from 209 in the same period of 2025 — again the steepest decline of any region. Florida saw 41 exits, down from 43. Georgia dropped to 19 from 38, and North Carolina to 16 from 33. Virginia held flat at 18.
The Midwest recorded 131 CEO exits year-to-date, down 27% from 180 in the same period of 2025. Ohio companies announced 32 exits, the most in the region and above last year’s pace of 29. Illinois fell to 23 from 33, Indiana to 7 from 21, and Wisconsin to 7 from 22.
WHY DID CEOs LEAVE IN APRIL?
Stepped Down led all reasons in April with 37 exits, followed closely by Retired with 28. Together the two categories accounted for just over half of the month’s departures. Year-to-date, 167 CEOs have retired and 150 have stepped down.
No Reason Given rebounded to 22 April exits from just 4 in March, while New Opportunity accounted for 5 and Interim Period Over drove 7 — the latter continuing to resolve the wave of interim appointments made during 2025. Resigned accounted for 6 exits and Restructuring 3.
Other reasons for CEO departures in April include: Terminated: 3; Acquisition/Merger: 2; Personal Reasons: 1; Death: 1; Differences with Board: 1; Allegations of Professional Misconduct: 1.
Notably, 18 of the CEOs who departed in April were founders of the companies they led, bringing the year-to-date total of founder exits to 63. Founder departures have run at a steady mid-teens pace each month, often signaling maturation events, capital raises, or generational transitions in family- and founder-owned businesses.