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A record number of CEOs left their positions in October, the most since the recession in 2008. (Photo: Pixnio)
'Maybe Rich People Can See the Writing on the Wall': CEOs Stepping Down at Levels Not Seen Since 2008
"You expect a high turnover during a recession period. To see more turnover during a period where companies are doing very well is surprising."
Nov 06, 2019
A record number of CEOs left their positions in October, a corporate outplacement firm reported Wednesday, the most in one month since the 2008 recession.
The news from Challenger, Gray & Christmas raised eyebrows--and concerns over a possible incoming recession--Wednesday evening at progressive news co-op The District Sentinel's radio show.
"Maybe this means nothing, maybe this is a coincidence," said show co-host Sam Sacks. "Or maybe rich people can see the writing on the wall and are cashing out right now."
Sacks and co-host Sam Knight weren't the only ones who saw the news as possibly indicative of economic upheaval on the horizon.
"Sign of a recession?" wondered Globe and Mail reporter Paul Waldie.
According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas' report, 1,332 CEOs have already left their companies, far outstripping the total 1,257 departures by this time in 2008. A total 1,484 CEOs left their positions by the end of 2008.
In a press release, Challenger, Gray & Christmas explained some of the turnover as the result of executive misconduct, succession plans, and normal changes in personnel. But even by those standards, 2019 stands out.
As The Chicago Tribune reported, October was a high water mark for the year:
In October, 172 chief executives left their posts, compared with 151 CEOs in September and 149 in October 2018, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray, & Christmas. That brings the 10-month tally to 1,332 CEOs who are out--the highest number since 2002, when the firm began tracking CEO departures at companies that have been in business at least two years and have at least 10 employees.
"Succession plans and misconduct aside, 172 in one month?" market researcher Danielle DiMartino Booth tweeted incredulously.
October's numbers beat the previous record, set in August.
\u201c\u201cU.S. based companies announced 159 CEO changes in August, 28% higher than the 124 CEO exits in July and the most ever in a month, according to business and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.\u201d\n\n(via @mkmfitzgerald)\nhttps://t.co/RjlTJA5mqe\u201d— Carl Quintanilla (@Carl Quintanilla) 1569454502
Challenger, Gray & Christmas' vice president Andrew Challenger acknowledged to NBC News that the numbers were more akin to times of economic downturn than to the current era of relative stability.
"You expect a high turnover during a recession period," said Challenger. "To see more turnover during a period where companies are doing very well is surprising."
In a statement announcing the departure numbers, Challenger downplayed the possibility of economic disaster and framed the personnel changes as part of the normal course of business.
"We've seen the majority of CEOs leaving amid normal succession plans," said Challenger. "Meanwhile, after a decade of expansion, companies that started ten years ago are finding themselves in a phase where new leadership is needed. Other companies are adapting to changing technologies or finding new leadership based on current economic conditions and forecasts for the coming year."
But, as Common Dreams reported last month, there are other signs of possible economic trouble ahead. A number of late October moves by the Federal Reserve to pump cash into the economy set off alarm bells on Wall Street, prompting Northman Trader's Sven Heinreich to wonder, "What is the Fed not telling us?"
The inverted yield curve--a sign of coming recession--that surfaced in October further suggested to The District Sentinel's Sacks that the CEO exodus could be a sign of imminent economic disaster.
"Maybe these CEOs are seeing that inverted yield and are just like, 'yeah, let's just take our golden parachutes and get the fuck out of here,'" said Sacks.
"That's probably correct," said Knight.
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A record number of CEOs left their positions in October, a corporate outplacement firm reported Wednesday, the most in one month since the 2008 recession.
The news from Challenger, Gray & Christmas raised eyebrows--and concerns over a possible incoming recession--Wednesday evening at progressive news co-op The District Sentinel's radio show.
"Maybe this means nothing, maybe this is a coincidence," said show co-host Sam Sacks. "Or maybe rich people can see the writing on the wall and are cashing out right now."
Sacks and co-host Sam Knight weren't the only ones who saw the news as possibly indicative of economic upheaval on the horizon.
"Sign of a recession?" wondered Globe and Mail reporter Paul Waldie.
According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas' report, 1,332 CEOs have already left their companies, far outstripping the total 1,257 departures by this time in 2008. A total 1,484 CEOs left their positions by the end of 2008.
In a press release, Challenger, Gray & Christmas explained some of the turnover as the result of executive misconduct, succession plans, and normal changes in personnel. But even by those standards, 2019 stands out.
As The Chicago Tribune reported, October was a high water mark for the year:
In October, 172 chief executives left their posts, compared with 151 CEOs in September and 149 in October 2018, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray, & Christmas. That brings the 10-month tally to 1,332 CEOs who are out--the highest number since 2002, when the firm began tracking CEO departures at companies that have been in business at least two years and have at least 10 employees.
"Succession plans and misconduct aside, 172 in one month?" market researcher Danielle DiMartino Booth tweeted incredulously.
October's numbers beat the previous record, set in August.
\u201c\u201cU.S. based companies announced 159 CEO changes in August, 28% higher than the 124 CEO exits in July and the most ever in a month, according to business and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.\u201d\n\n(via @mkmfitzgerald)\nhttps://t.co/RjlTJA5mqe\u201d— Carl Quintanilla (@Carl Quintanilla) 1569454502
Challenger, Gray & Christmas' vice president Andrew Challenger acknowledged to NBC News that the numbers were more akin to times of economic downturn than to the current era of relative stability.
"You expect a high turnover during a recession period," said Challenger. "To see more turnover during a period where companies are doing very well is surprising."
In a statement announcing the departure numbers, Challenger downplayed the possibility of economic disaster and framed the personnel changes as part of the normal course of business.
"We've seen the majority of CEOs leaving amid normal succession plans," said Challenger. "Meanwhile, after a decade of expansion, companies that started ten years ago are finding themselves in a phase where new leadership is needed. Other companies are adapting to changing technologies or finding new leadership based on current economic conditions and forecasts for the coming year."
But, as Common Dreams reported last month, there are other signs of possible economic trouble ahead. A number of late October moves by the Federal Reserve to pump cash into the economy set off alarm bells on Wall Street, prompting Northman Trader's Sven Heinreich to wonder, "What is the Fed not telling us?"
The inverted yield curve--a sign of coming recession--that surfaced in October further suggested to The District Sentinel's Sacks that the CEO exodus could be a sign of imminent economic disaster.
"Maybe these CEOs are seeing that inverted yield and are just like, 'yeah, let's just take our golden parachutes and get the fuck out of here,'" said Sacks.
"That's probably correct," said Knight.
A record number of CEOs left their positions in October, a corporate outplacement firm reported Wednesday, the most in one month since the 2008 recession.
The news from Challenger, Gray & Christmas raised eyebrows--and concerns over a possible incoming recession--Wednesday evening at progressive news co-op The District Sentinel's radio show.
"Maybe this means nothing, maybe this is a coincidence," said show co-host Sam Sacks. "Or maybe rich people can see the writing on the wall and are cashing out right now."
Sacks and co-host Sam Knight weren't the only ones who saw the news as possibly indicative of economic upheaval on the horizon.
"Sign of a recession?" wondered Globe and Mail reporter Paul Waldie.
According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas' report, 1,332 CEOs have already left their companies, far outstripping the total 1,257 departures by this time in 2008. A total 1,484 CEOs left their positions by the end of 2008.
In a press release, Challenger, Gray & Christmas explained some of the turnover as the result of executive misconduct, succession plans, and normal changes in personnel. But even by those standards, 2019 stands out.
As The Chicago Tribune reported, October was a high water mark for the year:
In October, 172 chief executives left their posts, compared with 151 CEOs in September and 149 in October 2018, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray, & Christmas. That brings the 10-month tally to 1,332 CEOs who are out--the highest number since 2002, when the firm began tracking CEO departures at companies that have been in business at least two years and have at least 10 employees.
"Succession plans and misconduct aside, 172 in one month?" market researcher Danielle DiMartino Booth tweeted incredulously.
October's numbers beat the previous record, set in August.
\u201c\u201cU.S. based companies announced 159 CEO changes in August, 28% higher than the 124 CEO exits in July and the most ever in a month, according to business and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.\u201d\n\n(via @mkmfitzgerald)\nhttps://t.co/RjlTJA5mqe\u201d— Carl Quintanilla (@Carl Quintanilla) 1569454502
Challenger, Gray & Christmas' vice president Andrew Challenger acknowledged to NBC News that the numbers were more akin to times of economic downturn than to the current era of relative stability.
"You expect a high turnover during a recession period," said Challenger. "To see more turnover during a period where companies are doing very well is surprising."
In a statement announcing the departure numbers, Challenger downplayed the possibility of economic disaster and framed the personnel changes as part of the normal course of business.
"We've seen the majority of CEOs leaving amid normal succession plans," said Challenger. "Meanwhile, after a decade of expansion, companies that started ten years ago are finding themselves in a phase where new leadership is needed. Other companies are adapting to changing technologies or finding new leadership based on current economic conditions and forecasts for the coming year."
But, as Common Dreams reported last month, there are other signs of possible economic trouble ahead. A number of late October moves by the Federal Reserve to pump cash into the economy set off alarm bells on Wall Street, prompting Northman Trader's Sven Heinreich to wonder, "What is the Fed not telling us?"
The inverted yield curve--a sign of coming recession--that surfaced in October further suggested to The District Sentinel's Sacks that the CEO exodus could be a sign of imminent economic disaster.
"Maybe these CEOs are seeing that inverted yield and are just like, 'yeah, let's just take our golden parachutes and get the fuck out of here,'" said Sacks.
"That's probably correct," said Knight.
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LATEST NEWS
Israeli Officials Reportedly Held Talks About Displacing Palestinians to War-Torn South Sudan
"If implemented, the plans would amount to transferring people from one war-ravaged land at risk of famine to another," the Associated Press said.
Aug 13, 2025
Israel has reportedly discussed pushing the Palestinian population of Gaza to another war zone in South Sudan.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Israeli leaders had been engaged in talks with the African nation and that an Israeli delegation would soon visit the country to look into the possibility of setting up "makeshift camps" for Palestinians to be herded into.
"It's unclear how far the talks have advanced, but if implemented, the plans would amount to transferring people from one war-ravaged land at risk of famine to another," the AP said.
Like Gaza, South Sudan is in the midst of a massive humanitarian crisis caused by an ongoing violence and instability. In June, Human Rights Watch reported that more than half of South Sudan's population, 7.7 million people, faced acute food insecurity. The nation is also home to one of the world's largest refugee crises, with more than 2 million people internally displaced.
On Wednesday, the South Sudanese foreign ministry said it "firmly refutes" the reports that it discussed the transfer of Palestinians with Israel, adding that they are "baseless and do not reflect the official position or policy."
However, six sources that spoke to the AP—including the founder of a U.S.-based lobbying firm and the leader of a South Sudanese civil society group, as well as four who maintained anonymity—said the government briefed them on the talks.
Sharren Haskel, Israel's deputy foreign minister, also arrived in South Sudan on Tuesday to hold a series of talks with the president and other government officials.
While the content of these talks is unclear for the moment, the Israeli government is quite open about its goal of seeking the permanent transfer of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to other countries.
In addition to South Sudan, it has been reported that Israeli officials have also approached Sudan, Somalia, and the breakaway state of Somaliland, all of which have suffered from chronic war, poverty, and instability.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with the Israeli TV station i24 that "the right thing to do, even according to the laws of war as I know them, is to allow the population to leave, and then you go in with all your might against the enemy who remains there."
Though Netanyahu has described this as "voluntary migration," Israeli officials have in the past indicated that their goal is to make conditions in Gaza so intolerable that its people see no choice but to leave.
Finance minister and war cabinet member Bezalel Smotrich, who has openly discussed the objective of forcing 2 million Palestinians out to make way for Israeli settlers, said in May: "Within a few months, we will be able to declare that we have won. Gaza will be totally destroyed."
Speaking of its people, he said: "They will be totally despairing, understanding that there is no hope and nothing to look for in Gaza, and will be looking for relocation to begin a new life in other places."
Contrary to Netanyahu's assertion, international bodies, governments, and human rights groups have denounced the so-called "voluntary migration" plan as a policy of forcible transfer that is illegal under international law.
"To impose inhumane conditions of life to push Palestinians out of Gaza would amount to the war crime of unlawful transfer or deportation," said Amnesty International in May.
Israeli human rights organizations, led by the group Gisha, explained in June in a letter to Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, that there is no such thing as "voluntary migration" under the circumstances that the Israeli war campaign has imposed.
"Genuine 'consent' under these conditions simply does not exist," the groups said. "Therefore, the decision in question constitutes explicit planning for mass transfer of civilians and ethnic cleansing, while violating international law, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity."
The plan to permanently remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip has received the backing of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he wants to turn the strip into the "Riviera of the Middle East."
The U.S. State Department currently advises travelers not to visit Sudan or Somaliland due to the risk of armed conflict, civil unrest, crime, terrorism, and kidnapping. However, the United States has reportedly been involved in talks pushing these countries to take in the Palestinians forced out by Israel.
After Israel announced its plans to fully "conquer" Gaza, U.N. official Miroslav Jenča said during an emergency Security Council session on Sunday that the occupation push is "yet another dangerous escalation of the conflict."
"If these plans are implemented," he said, "they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings, and destruction—compounding the unbearable suffering of the population."
'Distortions and Distractions': Grassroots Public Health Group Levels RFK Jr's Latest MAHA Venture
Under Kennedy's leadership, Defend Public Health charged, the federal government "is now leading the spread of misinformation."
Aug 13, 2025
A grassroots public health organization on Wednesday took a preemptive hatchet to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s upcoming "Make America Health Again" report, whose release was delayed this week.
Health advocacy organization Defend Public Health said that it felt comfortable trashing the yet-to-be-released Kennedy report given that his previous report released earlier this year "fundamentally mischaracterized or ignored key issues in U.S. public health."
Instead, the group decided to release its own plan called "Improving the Health of Americans Together," which includes measures to ensure food safety, to improve Americans' ability to find times to exercise, and to ensure access to vaccines. The report also promotes expanding access to healthcare while taking a shot at the massive budget package passed by Republicans last month that cut an estimated $1 trillion from Medicaid over the next decade.
"In 2023, 28% of Americans had to delay or forgo medical or dental care due to cost, a number that will increase thanks to the recent reconciliation bill," the organization said. "Health coverage should be expanded, not reduced, and the U.S. should move toward a system that covers all."
Defend Public Health's report also directly condemns Kennedy's leadership as head of the Health and Human Services Department (HHS), as it labels him "an entirely destructive force and a major source of misinformation" who "must be removed from office." Under Kennedy's leadership, Defend Public Health charged, the federal government "is now leading the spread of misinformation."
Elizabeth Jacobs, an epidemiologist at the University of Arizona and a founding member of Defend Public Health, explained her organization's rationale for getting out in front of Kennedy's report.
"Public health can't wait, so we felt it was important not to let RFK Jr. set an agenda based on distortions and distractions," she said. "Tens of thousands of scientists, healthcare providers, and public health practitioners would love to be part of a real agenda to improve the health of Americans, but RFK Jr. keeps showing he has no clue how to do it."
She then added that "you can't build a public health agenda on pseudoscience while ignoring fundamental problems like poverty and other social determinants of health" and said her organization has "put together strategies that could truly help children and adults stay healthier, and that's the conversation Americans need to be having, not Kennedy's fake 'MAHA.'"
Kennedy has been drawing the ire of public health experts since his confirmation as HHS secretary. The Washington Post reported this week that Kennedy angered employees of the Centers for Disease Control after he continued to criticize their response to the novel coronavirus pandemic even after a gunman opened fire on the agency's headquarters late last week.
Kennedy also got into a spat recently with international health experts. According to Reuters, Kennedy recently demanded the retraction of a Danish study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal that found no link between children's exposure to aluminum in vaccines and incidence of neurodevelopment disorders such as autism.
International Medical Workers Decry Israel's 'Deliberate Assault' on Their Gaza Colleagues
"We refuse to be silent while our colleagues are starved and shot by Israel," whose "ongoing genocide and deepening siege have effectively destroyed the entire health system in Gaza."
Aug 13, 2025
More than 120 doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals from around the world who have worked in Gaza since late 2023 published a letter on Wednesday expressing solidarity with their Palestinian colleagues, who "continue to endure unimaginable violence" amid Israel's 22-month U.S.-backed annihilation and siege.
"Today, we raise our voices again in full solidarity with our Palestinian colleagues in Gaza," the international medical workers wrote in the open letter first obtained by Zeteo and also published by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, which along with B'Tselem last month became the first two Israeli advocacy groups to accuse their country of genocide.
"We refuse to be silent while our colleagues are starved and shot by Israel," declared the letter's signers, who "have witnessed firsthand the scale and severity of suffering" inflicted by Israeli bombs, bullets, and blockade.
The letter continues: "Israel's ongoing genocide and deepening siege have effectively destroyed the entire health system in Gaza. The few remaining partially functioning hospitals are held together by the determination and commitment of Palestinian doctors and nurses, all of whom continue to care for patients despite the constant risk of targeting, and now starvation too."
In a historic letter, 123 doctors from around the world who've served in Gaza demand international action to stop the horrors their Palestinian colleagues & Palestinian people face.“We reject the violence of silence and supposed neutrality while our colleagues are starved and shot at by Israel.”
[image or embed]
— Prem Thakker ツ (@premthakker.bsky.social) August 13, 2025 at 8:14 AM
"Our Palestinian colleagues—doctors, nurses, and first responders—are all rapidly losing weight due to forced starvation at the hands of the Israeli government," the signers said. "Many suffer from hunger, dizziness, and fainting episodes while performing operations and triaging patients in emergency rooms. Most have been displaced into tents after being forced from their homes, and many are surviving on less than a single serving of rice a day."
"Palestinian healthcare workers have been killed in large numbers as a result of Israel's repeated and systemic attacks on the health system and health workforce," the letter notes. "Over 1,580 health workers had been killed as of May 2025."
Furthermore, "the Israeli military has abducted, unlawfully detained, abused, and tortured hundreds of Palestinian healthcare workers, holding them in abject conditions in prisons and detention camps."
"The Israeli state has repeatedly blocked patient evacuations and international medical initiatives, and has closed or obstructed critical evacuation and humanitarian routes," the letter states. "Israel continues to systematically block the entry of critical supplies—medications, surgical tools, food, and even baby formula. As a result, Palestinian health workers must try to save lives in hospitals without the most basic supplies that are readily available only a short distance away."
The letter continues:
Patients cannot heal without adequate nutrition and access to comprehensive health services. If someone survives being shot by an Israeli soldier or a blast injury from an Israeli warplane, they still have to heal from their wounds. Malnutrition is a major barrier to full recovery, leaving people susceptible to infections for which very little treatment is now available in Gaza. Put simply: Your body cannot heal when you have not eaten properly in days or sometimes weeks, as is now commonplace in Gaza. The same is true for doctors and healthcare workers, who are struggling to provide care while facing the same conditions of extreme deprivation.
"These are not logistical challenges that can be solved simply by more medical aid or more international medical delegations," the signers added. "This is an entirely man-made crisis driven by limitless cruelty and complete disregard for Palestinian life."
The medical professionals are demanding international action to:
- Protect Palestinian healthcare workers and all Palestinians;
- Protect health sites and immediately stop the attacks on all health facilities;
- Lift Israel's illegal blockade and ensure unimpeded humanitarian access for food, clean water, medical supplies, and fuel distribution;
- Ensure an immediate and permanent cease-fire and an end to the unlawful military occupation of Gaza; and
- Hold accountable those responsible for attacks, detentions, and abuse affecting the medical mission in Gaza.
In addition to the 123 signatories who worked in Gaza, another 159 medical professionals from around the world signed the letter in solidarity.
The new letter comes as the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—a fugitive from the International Criminal Court wanted for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes—is preparing a major offensive to fully occupy and ethnically cleanse Gaza.
Launched in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, Israel's 676-day assault and siege on Gaza has left at least 230,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Most of Gaza's more than 2 million inhabitants have also been forcibly displaced, often multiple times. At least 235 Gazans, including 106 children, have starved to death amid a growing famine.
Despite growing international outrage and condemnation of Israel's obliteration of Gaza, there is no end in sight.
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