Some big-name companies and their CEOs parted ways this year

Some big-name companies and their CEOs have parted ways this year. 

That has been seen at companies operating in industries ranging from aerospace and fitness to apparel and tech, among others. 

Calhoun revealed in March that he had plans to stop serving as Boeing’s CEO, just over four years after he first took on the position.  

"I have been considering for some time, in discussion with our board of directors, the right time for a CEO transition at Boeing," he said in a message to employees at the time. "I want to share with you that I have decided this will be my last year as CEO of our great company, and I have notified the board of that decision." 

He said Boeing would "remain squarely focused on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years, with safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do" during the transition. 

The company has been working to recover from headwinds stemming from a pair of 737 MAX 8 crashes several years ago and, more recently, a Boeing 737 MAX plane’s door plug panel detaching mid-flight in January.

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Kelly Ortberg had led the aerospace company since the late summer. His first day as CEO was Aug. 8. 

"My mission here is pretty straightforward, turn this big ship in the right direction and restore Boeing to the leadership position that we all know and want," Ortberg told analysts and investors during the company’s quarterly earnings call in October, mentioning four specific areas of focus.  

The company reported 291 deliveries of commercial planes and 76 of defense, space and security aircraft over the first three quarters of the year.

Barry McCarthy stopped being Peloton’s CEO in May, prompting the fitness company to tap Karen Boone and Chris Bruzzo as interim Co-CEOs while it looked for a permanent successor.

Following a surge in business during the pandemic, Peloton battled to remain relevant as people returned to traditional gym workouts when social distancing restrictions eased. To combat the declining sales, it deployed various efforts to cut costs and expand its customer base.

Ford executive Peter Stern will take over as CEO at the beginning of January, Peloton said in October. Bruzzo stepped down from his interim CEO role in early November, with Boone continuing to run the company in the meantime.

Peloton is known for its exercise bikes, treadmills and rowing machines.

Sistani exited WW International in late September, marking the end to her 2.5-year stint as CEO.

At the same time, WeightWatchers named Tara Comonte its interim CEO. The company said she was taking on the job "at a time when the Company is focused on improving its operational and financial performance while continuing to build on its product innovation and solutions for members." 

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The company has been around since 1963. It has long offered weight-loss and weight-management programs and, more recently, has delved into access to weight-loss medications. 

Some 3.7 million people had subscriptions to WeightWatchers’ various offerings at the end of the third quarter.

Nike underwent a CEO change in mid-October, with Donahoe retiring Oct. 13. The company said at the time that he would "remain as an advisor to the company to ensure a smooth transition through January 31, 2025." 

Donahoe said in a statement it "became clear now was the time to make a leadership change, and Elliott [Hill] is the right person," adding that he "look[ed] forward to seeing Nike and Elliott’s future successes." His tenure as CEO spanned more than 4.5 years. 

Hill came out of retirement to take over the top job at Nike. 

During the company’s earnings call earlier this month, the new CEO said Nike "lost our obsession with sport" and "will lead with sport and put the athlete at the center of every decision" moving forward.

He also said the athletic footwear and apparel company "will get back to leveraging deep athlete insights to accelerate innovation, design, product creation and storytelling" and "build back an integrated marketplace," among other things.

Gelsinger, who became Intel’s CEO in February 2021, retired at the beginning of December.

"As a leader, Pat helped launch and revitalize process manufacturing by investing in state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing," Independent chair Frank Yeary said. "While we have made significant progress in regaining manufacturing competitiveness and building the capabilities to be a world-class foundry, we know that we have much more work to do at the company and are committed to restoring investor confidence."

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David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus have been interim co-CEOs since his departure. Intel will continue "simplifying and strengthening our product portfolio and advance our manufacturing and foundry capabilities while optimizing our operating expenses and capital" under them, Yeary said. 

A Challenger, Gray & Christmas report published earlier this month found 1,991 chief executives have revealed plans to part ways with companies in the 11-month span running January through November. 

Last month, there were 167, according to the report.

"Stepped down" has been cited as the driver of CEOs leaving more than any other reason so far this year. "No reason given," retirement, "new opportunity" and resignations were among other common reasons, the report said. 

The use of interim CEOs has increased, with Challenger, Gray & Christmas finding 13% of 2024 replacements taking on such roles. In 2023, it was 7%. 

Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.