Article
Fortune 100 – CFO move analysis
Trends in hiring, succession planning, and departures
In 2024, companies prioritized succession planning, with 72% of CFO hires being internal – up from 68% in 2023 and 55% in 2022. This steady increase reflects a growing commitment to developing and promoting internal talent.
For external hires, every CFO appointed in 2024 had prior CFO experience and came from another Fortune 100 company. While the 2023 trend was similar, half of that year’s external hires came from outside the Fortune 100.
Industry movement was fairly balanced, with healthcare seeing the most moves at 22%. Notably, 40% of external hires came from the healthcare sector, with all female CFOs in this group transitioning into the Technology industry, for new CFO roles. The financial services sector surprisingly saw no CFO movement in 2024.
Among CFOs who left their roles in 2024:
- 11% moved into external roles
17% retired
17% left for other reasons
33% departed without a role to go to
Two interim CFOs moved to permanent roles
11% of moves resulted in internal promotions to CEO
A slight shift towards greater gender balance?
During 2024, 83% of CFO appointments were male, while 17% were female. This marks a slight shift from 2023, when 89% were male, and 2022, when all moves, except one, were male.
In 2024, all female CFO appointments had prior Fortune 100 experience. Of these, 33% were internal promotions, while all external hires were already Fortune 100 CFOs. Notably, only one appointee held a CPA qualification. This data marks a shift from 2023 and 2022, when all female CFO hires were internal promotions.
Among male CFO appointments in 2024, 80% were internal promotions, with 20% of those promoted holding a CPA qualification. For external hires, 100% had prior Fortune 100 experience – a sharp increase from 50% in 2023 and just 20% in 2022. Additionally, all CFO hires in 2024 had previously held CFO positions.
Among CFO departures, two-thirds of outgoing female CFOs were replaced by males meaning 85% of Fortune 100 CFO roles are still held by men. However, recent hiring trends indicate a gradual shift toward greater gender diversity in executive finance leadership.
