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Research finds that there is little uniformity in the organizational structure of leadership teams across Fortune 500 companies.
In fact, the representation of women and people from underrepresented ethnic and racial groups in C-suite roles increased slightly in the past year, from 49% to 50%. Yet, the overall number of enterprise-level supply chain leaders in Fortune 500 companies has declined, according to research released by Spencer Stuart.
Key takeaways:
- Fewer marketing, communications and supply chain leaders are serving in the C-suite. The percentage of Fortune 500 companies with a global chief marketing officer or equivalent fell by 8% since our 2023 snapshot, as some companies opt to incorporate marketing with other functional responsibilities or spread responsibility for marketing across regions. A 6% decline in the number of chief communications officers may be the result of the creation of new roles that combine communications with other disciplines such as investor relations. The number of enterprise-level supply chain leaders in Fortune 500 companies declined by 7% to 422.
- Conversely, year-over-year saw increases in the number of companies with chief inclusion and diversity officers and chief sustainability officers, suggesting that leaders continue to view these areas as important levers for business performance. The number of Fortune 500 enterprise-level inclusion and diversity leaders increased by 9% to 321, while the number of chief sustainability officers increased by 2% to 294.
- Nearly 60% of C-suite functional leaders are internal appointments to their roles, underscoring the importance of leadership development and succession planning. While this is unchanged from last year, internal appointments have gradually increased since 2020, when 55% of functional leaders were appointed from within their companies. CEOs (76%) and COOs (79%) are most likely to be insiders.
- Average CEO tenure rose from 6.7 years to 7.4 years.
- 41% percent of Fortune 500 C-suite leaders were external hires.
- The average tenure of sitting Fortune 500 C-suite leaders is 4.9 years, up from 4.5 in 2023. Average CEO tenure is just under 7.5 years on average, 2.5 years longer than the C-suite average and more than a year longer than the next longest-serving executive, the chief legal officer (6.1 years).
- COOs have the shortest tenure, averaging 3.2 years, likely because the role often is meant to be a temporary development position for CEO aspirants.
- The representation of women and people from underrepresented ethnic and racial groups in C-suite roles increased slightly in the past year, from 49% to 50%.
- Overall, 40% of functional C-suite roles are held by women and 16% by ethnically diverse leaders.
