The past six months have seen a striking number of CEO resignations and firings, cementing 2025 as a year of corporate upheaval
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It's been a record year for CEO turnover so far.
Data compiled by Challenger, Gray, & Christmas, a business coaching firm, shows that from January to May, 1,028 CEOs left their posts, up 19% during the same period last year.
"The epic changes and uncertainty facing many companies right now may be the exit point for long-tenured CEOs as companies deploy new strategies requiring new leadership,” said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president and labor expert for the firm.
Read on for a look at six of the highest-profile CEO departures to hit since January 1, 2025.
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X $TWTR CEO Linda Yaccarino announced her resignation as head of the social media platform on July 9.
Yaccarino took the helm of the site once known as Twitter two years ago, following Elon Musk's acquisition of the platform.
The news broke just a day after Grok, the AI-bot made by Musk's xAI, came under fire for posting antisemitic comments.
In her resignation note, Yaccarino said, “We started with the critical early work necessary to prioritize the safety of our users — especially children, and to restore advertiser confidence."
"This team has worked relentlessly from groundbreaking innovations like Community Notes, and, soon, X Money to bringing the most iconic voices and content to the platform.” The Community Notes feature predates the Twitter acquisition and was previously called Birdwatch.
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Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen announced in May he would step down after eight years at the helm of the Danish pharmaceutical giant responsible for the blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.
The move came after Novo Nordisk’s share price fell 50% over the last 12 months, and amid growing pressure from the powerful Novo Nordisk Foundation, which controls the company’s voting majority. Jørgensen joined Novo in 1991 and became CEO in 2017.
While Jørgensen led the company through a meteoric rise, shares sharply declined amid mounting competition from Eli Lilly $LLY, underwhelming trial results for next-gen therapy CagriSema, and growing investor skepticism about just how big the GLP-1 market can get.
Catherine Baab contributed reporting to this article.
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Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen abruptly resigned in March following an investigation into his "personal conduct."
The company said his behavior was "inconsistent" with its ethics, providing little detail.
McMullen had led the grocery chain from 2014 until his resignation. He made more than $15 million in 2024, when the company's median worker made less than $35,000.
Justin Sullivan
Kohl's $KSS CEO Ashley Buchanan lasted just three months on the job before he was fired in March.
The company said it let Buchanan go because he “violated company policies by directing the company to engage in vendor transactions that involved undisclosed conflicts of interest.”
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Lidiane Jones lasted a year as CEO of Bumble before exiting. The dating app saw shares halve during their tenure.
Under Jones' leadership, Bumble ditched its signature feature that only allowed women to message first.
Jones was previously the CEO of Slack $WORK. Following her departure, founder Whitney Wolfe Herd returned to lead the company.
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Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner resigned in March at the height of the DOGE firings, as Elon Musk talked about fully privatizing the railway company. Many reports said Gardner was forced out.
"I am stepping down as CEO to ensure that Amtrak continues to enjoy the full faith and confidence of this administration," Gardner said in a statement announcing his departure.
