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- FIRM PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
By Bryan Strickland
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Opportunities for CFOs to become CEOs in large companies continue to rise, as do opportunities for women and racially and ethnically diverse candidates.
The Crist Kolder Associates Volatility Report 2023 found that among the 674 companies comprising the Fortune 500 and S&P 500, 8.4% of vacant CEOs positions were filled by CFOs — the highest percentage dating to 2013, the first year of available data for the annual report. In 2013, 5.8% of vacant CEO roles were filled by CFOs.
The percentage of female and racially and ethnically diverse CFOs and CEOs also reached record levels in 2023: Women comprised 18.5% of CFOs and 8.5% of CEOs; racially and ethnically diverse individuals comprised 12.8% of CFOs and 13% of CEOs. Most of those percentages have more than doubled over the past decade (the percentage of female CFOs was 10.2% in 2013).
Even with more opportunities for CFOs to take over as CEOs, the most common path to CEO remains a move from a COO or president role. In 2023, 45.3% of CEO roles were filled by COOs or presidents.
Seventy-eight percent of departing CEOs were replaced by internal candidates in 2023; 57% of CFOs were.
Other findings of note from the report:
- 38.5% of sitting CFOs in 2023 were CPAs, up from 34.5% the previous year; 52.5% of sitting CFOs had MBAs. The percentage of CFOs without either CPA or MBA credentials stood at 21.5% in 2023, markedly down from 30.2% in 2017.
- Of the 54.2% of sitting CFOs that hold a business degree, 25.9% have an undergraduate degree in accounting, the most common degree among CFOs.
- The average tenure of current CFOs is 4.7 years, including 4.9 years on average in the financial services sector. The average tenure of current CEOs in financial services is 9.2 years, well above the average of 7.1 years across all industries.
— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com.
