Senior Director
Leadership
A Spree of Unplanned Successions
A new study shows a large number of CEOs across EMEA are being ousted for lackluster company performance.
June 16, 2025
Why Boards Are Booting CEOs in EMEA
The CEO could do no wrong. The media hailed him as a genius, fellow CEOs wanted to know what his secret sauce was, and even employees had no problem working overtime for the iconoclastic chief.
But about six months later, company results were down. The board and CEO couldn’t agree on next steps. Moving quickly, the directors decided to fire the CEO and promote one of his lieutenants to the top role.
If this story sounds familiar, it’s because boards are increasingly taking action when the numbers aren’t jibing. As part of its annual review of CEO-succession events in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, a Korn Ferry study found that 6 out of 10 countries cited company performance as a significant catalyst for unplanned, unanticipated successions that could surprise stakeholders. “Boards are stepping up and taking action when performance isn’t good,” says Olivier Boulard, Korn Ferry’s CEO Succession practice lead in EMEA and lead author of the study.
When boards did take action to replace the CEO, they often looked for an internal successor: 8 out of 10 countries reported that 50% or more of new leaders were internal promotions in 2024. An internal candidate already knows the business strategy, culture, and operating model, which boards tend to find reassuring. Some critics may question this kind of move as too conservative, but others regard it as a natural step. “So much of the succession process is the result of human elements, biases, and beliefs,” says Georgina Landy, senior director in Korn Ferry’s Board and CEO Services practice in France and coauthor of the study.
The study analyzed nearly 1,000 companies in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. In addition to noting a large percentage of unplanned successions, it found that more companies are separating the CEO and board chair roles, and that the average CEO in Europe is over 50 years old.
The trend to promote from within means many CEOs in these markets are first-timers, with Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Saudi Arabia appointing 65% or more first-time CEOs last year. With the exception of the United Kingdom, all of the newly appointed CEOs were natives of the firm’s home country.
But a big downside to promoting from within was the lack of female chief executives. In Denmark, France, Italy, and Saudi Arabia, none of last year’s new CEOs were women. That contrasts with board appointments, for which women account for an average of 35% of non-executive positions across 27 EU nations—largely the result of EU legislation passed in 2022 that requires 40% of non-executive directors, or one-third of all directors, to be female by 2026. For her part, Landy believes legislation may be needed in the EU to increase the number of female CEOs. “That’s the only way to move the needle,” she says.
Overall, the study did find that while most unplanned successions were performance related, many boards still needed to improve their preparation for CEO transitions. “Succession is a never-ending story, a bit like a Netflix series,” Boulard says. “Something can always happen and—poof!—you’re back to the beginning.”
Explore our CEO Succession Planning Report here.
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