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During the first three quarters of 2019, 1,160 CEOs left their positions, according to the staffing firm Challenger, Gray, & Christmas.
This figure exceeds the number of CEOs who departed during the same nine-month span at the height of the 2008 recession (which saw 1,132 CEO departures).
The tech sector saw the second-highest number of CEO departures, with 154 executives in that industry leaving their positions.
In the first week of December 2019, four CEOs announced their resignations: Susan Desmond-Hellmann at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Oscar Munoz at United Airlines, Larry Page at Alphabet, and Mark Okerstrom at Expedia.
Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg resigned amid fallout from two plane crashes that occurred under his tenure.
Departures in the first nine months of 2019 exceeded the number of CEOs who stepped down during the first three quarters of 2008 (1,132), which was the height of the Great Recession. The year also had the highest CEO turnover in the first three quarters that Challenger, Gray, & Christmas has seen since the firm began tracking departures in 2002.
Of the chief executives who left their positions during the first three quarters of 2019, 438 remained at their respective companies in different roles, 292 retired, and 103 moved to other companies, according to the report, which listed several other reasons for departures as well.
Here are the 37 most noteworthy CEO departures of 2019:
Steph Korey (right) at the 5th Annual NRF Foundation Gala at the Sheraton New York Times Square on January 13, 2019.
Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images
Founder and CEO of Overstock.com Patrick Byrne attends Consensus 2019 at the Hilton Midtown on May 15, 2019 in New York City. (
Steven Ferdman/Getty Images
Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Kevin Tsujihara arrives at Warner Bros. Pictures' 'Crazy Rich Asians' Premiere at TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX on August 7, 2018 in Hollywood, California.
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
Metlife Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer Steven Kandarian attends a meeting of Group of 20 leading economies' finance ministers and central bankers in Mexico City February 24, 2012.
Tomas Bravo/Reuters
Read more: MetLife names Khalaf CEO, Kandarian to retire
