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The CEO and the boardLesson 2 of 3

Part 1 of 3, 0 done

13 min

Who the CEO answers to

The CEO runs the company, but the board can replace the CEO, and the shareholders can replace the board. Here's how that works in practice: what directors owe, how owners vote, and what happens when the board loses patience.

Ticket 01 · The guess

How many big-company CEOs were pushed out?

The S&P 500 is a list of about five hundred of the biggest US companies. In 2025, how many of their CEOs were forced out: made to leave under pressure, not on their own schedule?

40 CEOs
0 CEOs100 CEOs
Words to know

Spot something wrong?

Tell us what looks off. No name or email needed.

What kind of problem?

0 / 1000

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Sources and every number (1)

Sources

  • Forced CEO Departures (Matteo Tonello, The Conference Board; S&P 500 and Russell 3000 companies, 2024 to August 2026) · Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, 2025

Every number

  • 10 CEOsharvard.edu ·2025 · CEOs of S&P 500 companies forced out in 2025, by the report's own test of a forced departure.
  • 7 CEO changesharvard.edu ·2025 · Roughly one CEO change in this many was forced, in both 2024 and 2025, across the companies the report tracks.
  • 7 CEOsharvard.edu ·2025 · CEOs of S&P 500 companies forced out in 2024.
  • 8harvard.edu ·2025 · Forced departures of S&P 500 CEOs, 2024 through August 2026, in which pressure from activist investors played a part.
  • 19 forced departuresharvard.edu ·2025 · All forced departures of S&P 500 CEOs, 2024 through August 2026.
  1. Lessons›
  2. Inside a business›
  3. The CEO and the board
  • ·Before this: What a CEO actually decides
  • ·Next: Big calls: raising money, buying a company, a new CEO
Skip to the lesson

The CEO and the boardLesson 2 of 3

Part 1 of 3, 0 done

13 min

Who the CEO answers to

The CEO runs the company, but the board can replace the CEO, and the shareholders can replace the board. Here's how that works in practice: what directors owe, how owners vote, and what happens when the board loses patience.

Ticket 01 · The guess

How many big-company CEOs were pushed out?

The S&P 500 is a list of about five hundred of the biggest US companies. In 2025, how many of their CEOs were forced out: made to leave under pressure, not on their own schedule?

40 CEOs
0 CEOs100 CEOs
Words to know

Spot something wrong?

Tell us what looks off. No name or email needed.

What kind of problem?

0 / 1000

We'll also send this page, the lesson, ticket 1, so we can find it. Nothing else. Privacy

·
Sources and every number (1)

Sources

  • Forced CEO Departures (Matteo Tonello, The Conference Board; S&P 500 and Russell 3000 companies, 2024 to August 2026) · Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, 2025

Every number

  • 10 CEOsharvard.edu ·2025 · CEOs of S&P 500 companies forced out in 2025, by the report's own test of a forced departure.
  • 7 CEO changesharvard.edu ·2025 · Roughly one CEO change in this many was forced, in both 2024 and 2025, across the companies the report tracks.
  • 7 CEOsharvard.edu ·2025 · CEOs of S&P 500 companies forced out in 2024.
  • 8harvard.edu ·2025 · Forced departures of S&P 500 CEOs, 2024 through August 2026, in which pressure from activist investors played a part.
  • 19 forced departuresharvard.edu ·2025 · All forced departures of S&P 500 CEOs, 2024 through August 2026.
  1. Lessons›
  2. Inside a business›
  3. The CEO and the board
  • ·Before this: What a CEO actually decides
  • ·Next: Big calls: raising money, buying a company, a new CEO