Follow The Leader: When A CEO Resigns, The CFO Is Likely To Exit Within Two Years
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When Boeing CFO Greg Smith announced his retirement last month, the 54-year-old caught investors off guard, with shares falling 4% in response to the news. After guiding the aerospace company through some of the greatest challenges it’s faced in its more than 100-year history, among them the 737 Max crisis and Covid-19 pandemic, he’ll resign in July, just 18 months after former CEO Dennis Muilenburg stepped down.
Greg Smith
Photo courtesy of Boeing
But Smith’s exit shouldn’t have come as a surprise: When a chief executive departs, the head of finance often follows, and in close succession, says Phil Murphy, a consultant at Spencer Stuart, who leads the firm’s financial officer practice in North America.