When Elliott Hill stepped out of retirement two years ago to take the top job at Nike, his LinkedIn profile had a viral moment. The new CEO had spent his entire career at the sports apparel company, starting as an intern in the 1980s before climbing the corporate ladder as high as it goes. That Hill’s resume turned so many heads was telling of how unusual the one-company career path has become. For most aspiring CEOs, in fact, company loyalty may have now become a liability.
The typical chief executive profile has changed as of late. The share of executives leading companies who are women or people of color is rising—albeit slowly. CEOs are also more likely to be older, including newly minted ones. At the time of appointment, the average CEO in 2023 was 55 years old, up from 47 in 2000, according to a new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, published in April.
The paper’s authors looked at a sample of more than 50,000 U.S. CEOs and put forward several explanations for why new chief executives are tending older, including that companies are increasingly looking to cut back on risk. They might opt to trade the potential dynamism of a younger CEO with more experienced and stable guidance an older leader can offer.
