The Era of Older CEOs in U.S. Companies... Preference for Experienced Leaders

by Ryu Hyunseok

Published 24 Apr.2026 11:04(KST)

The average age of CEOs at American companies has increased by 10 years. This trend has emerged as firms increasingly favor CEOs in their 60s with broad experience over younger, standout leaders.

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On April 23 (local time), Bloomberg News, citing a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), reported that an analysis of the hiring and career patterns of more than 50,500 U.S. CEOs from 2000 to 2023 showed that the average CEO age is now 61, about 10 years older than in 2000. The average age at which CEOs are appointed has also risen to 55, up from under 48 in 2000.

Researchers behind the NBER working paper explained that the rise in average CEO age reflects a "fundamental shift" in both how executives develop their careers and how companies select leaders. Companies now value a wide range of business experience over innate talent.

Valentin Kecht and Farzad Saidi of the University of Bonn, along with Alessandro Rizzieri of Princeton University, stated, "There has been a shift in demand toward generalist skills," and explained, "As executives need longer career paths to amass such varied expertise, companies are appointing older CEOs."

The researchers indicated that this trend is even more pronounced among smaller, non-listed companies. Unlike large enterprises, small and medium-sized firms cannot provide internal talent with opportunities to gain broad experience. To secure capable executives, they must recruit leaders from outside who have accumulated diverse experience across multiple companies and industries. For this reason, Bloomberg reported that the average age of CEOs at S&P 500 companies is lower than the overall average and is not rising as quickly.

Notably, it is argued that older CEOs, thanks to their wealth of experience in making difficult decisions, may be better equipped to respond to the opportunities and uncertainties brought by artificial intelligence (AI) and to manage employment instability. The researchers told Bloomberg, "Seasoned leaders who can effectively leverage these skills may become even more valuable." They added that abilities such as coordination, adaptation, and decision-making under uncertainty are difficult to systematize or automate.