In today’s CEO Daily: Geoff Colvin examines the rise of outsider CEOs.
The big story: Warner Bros. Discovery prepares to reject Paramount’s bid.
The markets: Up globally.
Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. Big companies announcing new CEOs lately are mostly choosing insiders. Think of Walmart’s John Furner, Target’s Michael Fiddelke, and Geico’s Nancy Pierce. But 2025 has actually been a big year for outsider CEOs. With AI roaring ahead plus unprecedented tariffs, historic geopolitics, and rampaging activist investors, boards of directors naturally want someone who can change a company’s direction, and often an outsider, untethered to the company’s past, seems like the right choice. Through September, 33% of the new CEOs in the S&P 500 this year were outsiders, a striking increase from 18% last year, according to the Conference Board. Insider CEOs often seem like the obvious choice, but Jim Citrin, who leads the CEO practice and co-leads the board practice at the Spencer Stuart advisory firm, tells me that research supports boards taking a chance on an outsider—in this or any other business climate.
