In a year marked by market volatility, inflation, activist pressure, and economic uncertainty, boards leaned heavily toward first-time chief executives. That is the central finding of Spencer Stuart’s 2025 CEO Transitions Report, which tracks leadership changes across the S&P 1500.
Some 168 new CEOs were appointed in 2025, the highest total since 2010. The defining shift was who got the job. Among incoming CEOs, 84% were serving in their first enterprise CEO role, reversing a multi-year tilt toward leaders with prior public-company experience.
As recently as 2024, more than one in five new CEOs had already led a public company. That share fell sharply in 2025. Of the 140 first-time CEOs appointed, 116 had no prior enterprise CEO experience. Two-thirds had never served on a public company board, meaning many are stepping into the role without prior exposure to shareholder oversight or public company governance.
The report suggests experienced CEOs can be especially valuable in turnarounds or crises. Over time, however, talented first-time CEOs are often more likely to deliver stronger performance. That conclusion is likely to resonate in boardrooms weighing whether to prioritize a steady hand or long-term upside in their next succession decision.
The shift is most pronounced among mid-cap companies, where 89% of new CEOs were first-timers, up from 76% the year before. Industrial and financial services companies were particularly likely to elevate rookies, with 90% of incoming CEOs in those sectors stepping into the top job for the first time. Healthcare and technology companies were somewhat more likely to choose leaders with prior public-company CEO experience.
Shorter tenures, tighter timelines
The pivot comes amid elevated turnover. Average CEO tenure has declined to 8.5 years in 2025, down from 9.1 years in 2021. Nearly 40% of S&P 1500 CEOs are leaving within their first five years.
Spencer Stuart’s CEO life cycle research shows why that early stretch matters. CEO performance paths often split in years three through five. Investors tend to allow a reset in the first year or two, but by year three, expectations shift firmly to execution and results.
With tenure compressing and scrutiny intensifying, boards may be less willing to wait for a turnaround that fails to materialize. For the large class of first-time CEOs appointed in 2025, that window will be a key test.
Looking inside
The rise in rookie CEOs is closely tied to another pattern. Companies are looking within.
The share of externally hired CEOs slipped to 40% in 2025 from 43% in 2024. Large-cap companies remain the most committed to internal succession, with just over one-quarter hiring outsiders. Smaller companies are more likely to recruit externally, though internal promotions still account for the majority of appointments overall.
Financial services, consumer, and industrial companies appointed insiders at higher rates than the S&P 1500 average, while healthcare companies were more likely to conduct external searches.
This internal focus also helps explain a demographic shift. Incoming CEOs were younger on average in 2025 at 54.4 years old, down from 55.8 the year before. The share of new CEOs aged 60 and above fell to 18% after hovering near 30% in recent years.
The COO pipeline
When boards promote from within, one role stands out.
COOs and presidents accounted for 48% of new S&P 1500 CEO appointments in 2025, up from 40% in 2024. Among large-cap companies, the majority of new CEOs followed the COO-to-CEO path. The role often serves as a final proving ground, offering enterprise-wide oversight and exposure to investors and key stakeholders.
Another 30% of newly appointed CEOs were promoted from divisional CEO roles, which provide broad P&L responsibility and operating depth.
What boards are not doing is bypassing the senior ranks. In 2021, one in five new CEOs came from below the C-suite. In 2025, there were no leapfrog appointments among first-time CEOs.
Taken together, the data point to a recalibration in succession strategy. Boards are turning over CEOs more frequently, promoting more leaders from inside their organizations, and placing a larger share of first-time executives in the top role.
There is a clear tension in that strategy. CEO tenure is shrinking, and scrutiny is rising, yet boards are moving away from proven public-company veterans and toward internally developed leaders, many of whom lack prior board experience. The bet appears to be that deep operational knowledge and familiarity with the company outweigh a résumé line. Whether that calculation holds will become clearer as the class of 2025 moves through its first five years.
The post Companies are cycling through CEOs—and replacing them with first-timers appeared first on Fortune.
