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Company

Russell Reynolds Associates

Global executive search and leadership advisory firm that recruits C-suite executives and board members and tracks CEO turnover trends.

Known aliases

  • Russell Reynolds

Current stories

investOne report1 publisher

Women's board representation fell for the first time in more than a decade

Women's share of C-suite and board roles has stalled at about 30%, with board representation down for the first time in more than a decade, Fortune reported. Women-led Fortune 500 companies rose to 56 (11.2%), a count we think trails the promotions behind it.

Publishers:fortune.com

Reality

Evidence45
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+10
Incentives35
Confidence55
leadershipOne report1 publisher

European buyout sponsors changed chief executive in 69% of deals tracked to exit

Russell Reynolds mapped 196 European exits and found that a single chief executive change tracks almost no difference in average hold period, while the delayed and repeated ones are where the risk sits.

Reality

Evidence55
Adoption62
Hype gap+18
Incentives76
Confidence56
leadershipOne report1 publisher

Health care tops the 2026 forced CEO exit table on eight months of data

The Conference Board puts 35% of this year's Russell 3000 forced departures in health care. The same report has forced exits taking a smaller share of 2026 successions than in either prior year, and no single industry profile.

Reality

Evidence70
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+20
Incentives45
Confidence58
leadershipOne report1 publisher

The SEC stopped grading proxy exclusions. Now the board's lawyers do.

Nine in ten exclusion requests now draw a no-objection letter that reflects no review of the merits, and requests fell by half. The judgement moved to the general counsel's office.

Reality

Evidence58
Adoption74
Hype gap+12
Incentives55
Confidence57
investOne report1 publisher

Boards found a cheap hedge on succession: hire the CEO who already retired

Russell Reynolds counted 34% of first-half 2026 S&P 500 CEO appointments going to someone who had already led a public company, up from 22%. Each one closes a promotion chain.

Publishers:fortune.com

Reality

Evidence42
Adoption61
Hype gap+22
Incentives52
Confidence44