Average CEO Age Is a Decade Older Than in 2000, Korn Ferry Data Shows

Korn Ferry’s own data has put a number on a corner-office shift that executives have felt for years. In a Saturday post, the executive search firm said the average CEO age is now a decade older than it was in 2000, raising the question of whether younger generations will miss out on the top role. The trend sits at the center of a new NBER working paper Korn Ferry is amplifying, and it is reshaping both the candidate pool and the demand for executive search.

Boards are pulling from a thinning field. About 42% of US CEOs are over age 60, and roughly 15% are under 50, according to Conference Board research cited by Korn Ferry. The average sitting CEO is now 61, and the average age at appointment is 55, both up from 48 in 2000.

What the Data Actually Shows

The headline numbers come from a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper that studied 50,000 CEOs at firms of all sizes from 2000 to 2023. The average sitting CEO is 61, ten years older than in 2000. The average age at appointment is 55, up from 48 in 2000.

By comparison, the average US worker aged only two years over the same stretch, from 40 to 42. The gap pushes back on the simplest explanation: demographics alone cannot account for a shift that outpaces the broader workforce by that margin. The NBER paper and a companion write-up on the rise in CEO age reach the same conclusion. Boards, the data shows, are paying more for generalist experience.

Korn Ferry amplified the findings in a Saturday post on average CEO age rising a decade, citing its own Board and CEO Services practice and the new working paper. The post framed the data around a single question: will younger generations miss out on the top role? The answer, the firm’s senior leaders argue, depends on how boards respond to a smaller, older candidate pool.

• 61 years: average sitting CEO age, up by ten years since 2000
• 55 years: average CEO appointment age, up from 48 in 2000
• 42 years: average US worker age, up from 40 in 2000
• 42%: share of US CEOs over age 60
• about 15%: share of US CEOs under age 50

Why Boards Want Veterans Now

The story boards tell themselves is that AI, geopolitical tension, and constant operational complexity have raised the cost of a mis-hire. Jane Edison Stevenson, global vice chair of Korn Ferry’s Board and CEO Services practice, says the candidate pool has thinned to a point she has not seen in her career. Boards, she argues, are desperate for leaders who can perform at a top level while also transforming and innovating. The simplest path to that profile, in their view, is a proven track record built over decades.

Academic research backs the read. A companion piece on Harvard Law’s Corporate Governance Forum, drawing on the same NBER dataset, argues that CEOs are getting older because firms value diversified managerial experience in uncertain environments. Smaller firms drive the trend most, the paper shows, because they cannot cultivate generalist skills internally. Larger companies, by contrast, offer internal candidates a wider range of assignments and can hire younger. The trade-off the researchers flag: older CEOs tend to run slower-growing, less-innovative firms, but they reduce firm risk exposure.

It’s the smallest candidate pool that I can remember.

Jane Edison Stevenson, global vice chair of Korn Ferry’s Board and CEO Services practice, in the essay on the graying corner office trend.

Successions Are Going Off-Script

Boards are slow to move, and they are moving without a plan. Half of CEO successions in 2024 were unplanned, up from 43% in 2023, and a third of CEO appointments were interim placements, per Korn Ferry’s succession planning report on unplanned CEO transitions.

The pattern catches boards flat-footed by the very aging they helped cause. Korn Ferry’s report ties the rise in unplanned transitions directly to a lack of internal readiness. When a sitting CEO exits unexpectedly, the company often turns to an interim leader. A third of all CEO appointments are interim placements, per the same report.

The supply side has reacted in a way few outside the executive search industry talk about. The NBER paper found that aspiring CEOs now accept downward career moves and lower short-term pay to broaden their skill portfolios. In the early 2000s, fewer than one in five sitting CEOs had taken a step down before being appointed; by the end of the dataset, more than 40% had.

The Gen X Bottleneck

Generation X is the cohort feeling the squeeze. More than half of Gen X executives are at least 50 years old, per the Korn Ferry write-up, and many are still waiting for a top role to open. The Conference Board data Korn Ferry cites shows the same arithmetic from the top: 42% of US CEOs are over age 60. About 15% are under 50, a figure that has risen as some directors push back against the assumption that only gray hair can handle AI, digital marketing, and shifting customer demographics.

The opening at the top remains narrow. Many of the 42% over 60 have no plan to leave. Joe Griesedieck, Korn Ferry vice chairman and managing director of the firm’s Board and CEO Services practice, ties part of the bottleneck to boomer behavior.

Griesedieck’s read is that the desire for continuing job stability keeps older CEOs in their seats, and Gen X is the cohort behind them. Boards still need someone to run the company, and they have shown a willingness to reach below 50 when the role demands AI fluency or digital chops. The under-50 share has crept up from a single-digit base over the past decade, per the Conference Board. The trend is incremental, not a reversal.

The 50% unplanned share and 33% interim share from Korn Ferry’s succession report compound the effect. When boards reach for a successor in a hurry, they pull from a candidate pool that already skews older, per the same report. Korn Ferry’s succession report, the Conference Board data, and the NBER dataset are three different cuts of the same trend.

KFY’s Bullish Setup Mirrors the Trend

The market is voting on the same trend. Korn Ferry’s own stock, KFY, trades at $72.19, positioned above its SMA-20 ($71.60), SMA-50 ($68.51), and SMA-200 ($66.91). The Ichimoku Kijun D1 level at $69.53 sits below the current price as immediate support. The structure reads as bullish across short, medium, and long timeframes.

Momentum indicators on the daily chart are tilted bullish without flashing overbought. MACD signals a Strong Buy; ADX at 15.04 points to a weak but rising trend; RSI at 56.15 and Stoch RSI at 50.93 sit in neutral-to-buy zones. KFY added $0.73 (1.02%) over the past week, rising from a previous weekly close of $71.46. The setup has a stated range and a stated probability: the expected price range for the coming week is $70.50 to $74.00, which keeps KFY above its 52-week low of $58.95 and within reach of its 52-week high of $78.50. The probability of further upside is more than 80% if support at $69.53 holds, per the technical readout, with downside moves less likely until that support breaks.

• SMA-20: $71.60, price above
• SMA-50: $68.51, price above
• SMA-200: $66.91, price above
• Ichimoku Kijun D1: $69.53, immediate support
• MACD: Strong Buy
• ADX (D1): 15.04, weak but rising
• RSI (D1): 56.15, neutral-to-buy
• Stoch RSI (D1): 50.93, neutral-to-buy

What Could Buck the Pattern

There are early signals the trend is bending. The average age of newly appointed CEOs in 2025 was 54.4, down from 55.8 in 2024, per the Korn Ferry write-up. If that pace continues, the average sitting CEO age could decline, though it would historically remain high.

The researchers behind the NBER paper see no obvious reason for the trend to reverse on its own. AI may strengthen the forces pushing CEO age up by raising uncertainty and complexity, the authors argue, while also disrupting the pathways through which generalist expertise has traditionally been built. Older decision-makers who can harness those tools may matter even more, the same paper notes. The NBER team concludes that the patterns they document may prove persistent.

KFY’s setup reflects the market’s read on the same shift Stevenson and Griesedieck describe. The two Korn Ferry leaders quoted in the report are both veterans of that shift. Their firm’s succession data shows 50% of CEO transitions are unplanned and a third of CEO appointments are interim; the company’s stock sits above its 200-day SMA at $72.19.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average CEO age in 2026?

The average sitting CEO of a US firm is 61, ten years older than in 2000, per a 2026 NBER working paper that Korn Ferry has amplified. The average age at appointment is 55, up from 48 in 2000.

How much older are CEOs now compared to the year 2000?

The NBER dataset, which covers 50,000 CEOs at firms of all sizes from 2000 to 2023, shows the average sitting CEO age rising by ten years. The appointment age climbed from 48 to 55 over the same window.

Why are CEOs getting older?

The NBER paper and a companion write-up on Harvard Law’s Corporate Governance Forum attribute the rise to firms placing more value on diversified managerial experience in uncertain, complex environments. The pattern shows up most strongly at smaller private firms.

Are younger CEOs becoming more common?

Slightly. About 15% of sitting US CEOs are under 50, and the average appointment age dropped to 54.4 in 2025 from 55.8 in 2024, per Korn Ferry. The shift is incremental, not a reversal.

Is Korn Ferry (KFY) stock a buy on this trend?

The technical readout is bullish. KFY trades at $72.19 above all three major simple moving averages, with MACD at Strong Buy and the expected range for the week at $70.50 to $74.00. The probability of further upside is more than 80% if support at $69.53 holds.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, financial, or career advice. Stock figures and technical levels are accurate as of publication; markets move. Consult a qualified professional before acting on any analysis in this piece.