A shaky job market is shrinking job security in the corner office – notably in California.

My trusty spreadsheet found exits of chief executive officers were on the rise in a report by workplace consultants at Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Nationwide, 1,650 CEOs lost their jobs in the first nine months of 2025, Challenger reports. It’s part of a two-year upswing in corporations changing their top executives.

In the same period in 2024, 1,652 CEOs departed. Yet in the previous nine years, a median of 1,004 chief executives left their posts in the same time frame. This translates to 64% more changes for the big boss.

California is the top state for CEO exits in 2025, with 194 CEOs leaving their positions in nine months. Next came Texas at 132, North Carolina at 102, Florida at 98, and Pen

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