When Former CEOs Hang Around
Who’s the boss? It’s sometimes hard to tell when a chief executive leaves office without leaving the company.
The issue of ambiguous leadership has become increasingly thorny as more CEOs stay on their employer’s payroll as executive chairman — a well-compensated, full-time position with management and board duties.
The number of executive chairmen of Fortune 500 companies who used to be CEOs there has surged to 35 this year from just 17 in 2008, according to an analysis for The Wall Street Journal by recruiters Egon Zehnder International.
