Global 500 CEO Departures at 15 Percent and Sweep All Regions According to New Analysis

Global 500 CEO Departures at 15 Percent and Sweep All Regions According to New Analysis

January 23, 2007

North American Global 500 CEO Turnover Declines Markedly

    NEW YORK, Jan. 23 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- When it comes
to the super class of CEOs in the world's largest
companies, upheaval in the chief executive suite is not in
the exclusive domain of one region, according to a new
Global 500 CEO Departures(TM) in-depth analysis by public
relations firm Weber Shandwick. Overall, a sizeable 15
percent of the world's largest companies experienced a
chief executive change in 2006 (10 percent in North
America, 18 percent in Europe and 16 percent in Asia
Pacific). These findings are based on CEO departures at the
world's 500 largest revenue-producing companies and show
that disruption in the chief executive suite is clearly a
worldwide phenomenon.

    On a positive note, the proprietary analysis reveals
that the overall departure rate of global 500 CEOs declined
from 17 percent in 2005 to 15 percent in 2006 -- an 11
percent drop proportionally. On a regional basis, the
world's largest companies headquartered in North America
experienced the most marked decline, from 18 percent in
2005 down to 10 percent in 2006. In contrast, the world's
largest company CEOs in Europe saw a modest rise (from 15
percent in 2005 to 18 percent in 2006) while Asia Pacific
witnessed no change. 


    GLOBAL 500 CEO DEPARTURES

                            2006     Percentage of    2005 
  Percentage of 
                             CEO         2006 CEO      CEO 
      2005 CEO 
                          Departures   Departures  
Departures   Departures 
                                     Within Region         
  Within Region 
                               #            %            # 
          % 
    Total                     74           15           83 
         17 
    North America             18           10           34 
         18 
    Europe                    33           18           28 
         15 
    Asia Pacific              20           16           19 
         15 
    Latin America              3            *            2 
          * 

    Source: Weber Shandwick Global 500 CEO Departures(TM)
Analysis
    * Due to small sample sizes in Latin America, the
percentages are not 
      shown.


    Weber Shandwick President Andy Polansky says,
"Considering that the world's leading 500 companies
are responsible for generating approximately $19
trillion(1) in revenue, quality CEO succession planning,
leadership training and board accountability have
far-reaching consequences, not only for individual
companies but also for members of the worldwide business
community.  Weber Shandwick has a great deal of experience
helping companies navigate communications challenges in an
environment that rewards transparency and outreach to key
constituencies.  These components are integral to good
corporate governance and management practices."

    The analysis revealed other significant shifts in the
chief executive suite of the world's 500 largest
companies:

    -- Country CEO Turnover - The top five countries
worldwide experiencing 
       the greatest CEO turnover in 2006 were the United
States, Japan, 
       Britain, Germany and France.  In 2005, the greatest
CEO churn 
       worldwide occurred in the United States, Japan,
France, Britain and 
       the Netherlands.  In the past year, Germany jumped
into the top five.
    -- Reasons for CEO Departures - In 2006, over one-half
(57 percent) of 
       global 500 CEOs retired or left office for reasons
such as planned 
       succession, promotion to chairman, political
appointment or a new 
       position at another company.  Nearly one-third (31
percent) left 
       against their will and the remainder (12 percent)
exited due to 
       mergers, illness, interim positions and corporate
governance changes.
    -- Insider vs. Outsider Turnover - In both 2006 and
2005, insider 
       executives continued to outnumber outsider
executives among new CEOs 
       at the world's largest companies.  In 2006, 65
percent of global CEOs 
       were chosen from inside the company versus 35
percent chosen from 
       outside. The proportion of insider to outsider
executives has remained 
       stable year over year (67 percent and 33 percent in
2005). 
    -- Seasonal CEO Departures - In 2006, global CEOs left
their positions in 
       fairly equal proportions each quarter.  In 2005,
more of the world's 
       largest company CEOs departed in the first two
quarters versus the 
       last two quarters of the year. 


    GLOBAL 500 CEO DEPARTURES BY QUARTER

                                      2006           2005 

                                        %              % 
    First Quarter                      23             31 
    Second Quarter                     23             34 
    Third Quarter                      26             17 
    Fourth Quarter                     28             18 

    Source: Weber Shandwick Global 500 CEO Departures(TM)
Analysis


    "Despite the good news that overall CEO churn
among the world's largest 500 companies appears to be
slowing down, uncertainty from CEO change is felt from the
boardroom to the mailroom.  Whether CEO departures are due
to standard succession planning, mergers, poor financial
performance or wrongdoing, boards everywhere must fill the
leadership pipeline with the best and the brightest for the
challenging times ahead," said Weber Shandwick's Chief
Reputation Strategist and CEO expert Dr. Leslie
Gaines-Ross.  

    Global 500 CEO Departures(TM) Methodology

    Weber Shandwick's Global Departures(TM) analysis is
based on the world's largest companies by revenue according
to Fortune magazine's Global 500 ranking (July 24, 2006 and
July 25, 2005). Fortune calculates revenue using publicly
available data based on the companies' fiscal year ending
on or before March 31, 2006. Weber Shandwick divided the
global market into four regions -- North America (U.S. and
Canada), Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America (including
Mexico). 

    To track daily CEO turnover, Weber Shandwick used a
variety of electronic search engines, such as Factiva,
LexisNexis, The Corporate Library's Board Analyst and
company Web sites. After a CEO departure was identified,
Weber Shandwick confirmed the departure with the company's
official press release.  

    Weber Shandwick also investigated the reasons for each
CEO departure -- retirement, succession plan, promotion,
political appointment, move to a new company, resignation,
termination, conclusion of interim period, corporate
governance change, merger or demerger, or illness. For each
CEO departure, Weber Shandwick obtained information on the
new CEO's name, title, insider/outsider status, date of
announcement and start date. The firm also tracked the
outgoing CEO's name, title, insider/outsider status, any
continuation with the company and additional relevant
information.   

    For purposes of the analysis:

    -- Insider CEOs are defined as executives who have
worked inside the 
       company for three or more years before being
announced as the new 
       CEO.  
    -- Outsider CEOs are defined as executives who either
have never worked 
       for the company or have been employed by the company
for less than 
       three years before being announced CEO.  
    -- CEOs were defined as the company's highest-ranking
executive.  In some 
       countries, such as Japan, the president holds this
position.  

    About Weber Shandwick

    Weber Shandwick is one of the world's leading global
public relations firms with offices in major media,
business and government capitals around the world. The firm
specializes in strategic marketing communications, media
relations, public affairs, reputation and issues
management, and offers corporate communications counseling
services. Weber Shandwick also provides specialized
integrated services including Web relations, advocacy
advertising, market research and visual communications. In
2006, Weber Shandwick was named Large PR Firm of the Year
(PR News U.S.), European Consultancy of the Year (The
Holmes Report) and Network of the Year (Asia Pacific PR
Awards). The firm also won the United Nations Grand Award
for outstanding achievement in public relations. To learn
more, please visit http://www.webershandwick.com.

    Weber Shandwick is a unit of The Interpublic Group
(NYSE: IPG), which is one of the world's leading
organizations of advertising agencies and marketing
services companies.

    About reputationRx (
http://www.webershandwick.com/reputationRx )

    Weber Shandwick's new reputationRx Web site provides
professionals interested in leadership issues with the
latest news, research findings, insights, best practices
and commentary on how to build and safeguard CEO and
corporate reputation.  It covers a full range of topics
such as reputation care and recovery, CEO turnover,
corporate responsibility, and strategies for communicating
CEO and corporate reputation.  The site is also continually
updated to include the most recent newsmakers and
fast-breaking trends that are transforming the business and
reputation landscapes.

    (1) Fortune (July 24, 2006) 

    For more information, please contact:  

     Laura Bachrach
     Weber Shandwick 
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]


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