Survey Analysis: CEO Succession Planning

Explore findings from NACD’s 2024 Public Company Board Practices and Oversight Survey related to CEO succession planning. The data was gathered from directors who serve on the boards of publicly traded companies. Access the full 2024 survey here.

Key Insights

Almost a third (30%) of public company respondents report that if their organization’s CEO were to leave tomorrow, their board does not have a successor identified to effectively fulfill the role. Another 10 percent responded they were “unsure” if their board had a CEO successor identified.

Ensuring that the company has the right leader at the right time—for today and the future—is an essential responsibility of the board. While approaches to succession planning vary, there are several common board practices found in the survey. For example, a majority of respondents have discussed long-term succession planning for the CEO in the past year (75%) and/or have identified an interim CEO in case of an emergency (71%).