After weeks of political pressure from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and others, Wells Fargo & Co WFC 0.36% CEO John Stumpf has opted to retire. The Wells Fargo board reportedly welcomed the decision in the wake of the company’s highly-publicized fake account scandal.
Stumpf isn’t the only high-profile CEO departure this year. In fact, through the first three quarters of 2016, there were 944 CEO changes, led by government/non-profit companies (155), financial firms (118) and hospitals (111).
Here’s a look at some of the biggest CEO departures of the year.
Ursula Burns, Xerox Corp XRX 1.25%
Burns made history by becoming the first black female CEO of an S&P 500 company, but announced she will be stepping down from her position when the company splits sometime before the end of the year.
Terry Lundgren, Macy’s Inc M 1.78%
Macy’s has been battling sales declines and a new wave of e-commerce competition, and Lundgren will be replaced by President Jeff Gennette in Q1 of 2017.
John Russell, CMS Energy Corporation CMS 0.46%
Russell retired in July after more than 30 years at CMS, but will stay on as chairman.
Michael Brown, Symantec Corporation SYMC 0.5%
The departure of Brown after only 18 months at the position came as a surprise to many analysts.
Keith Nosbusch, Rockwell Automation ROK 4.22%
Nosbusch had served as CEO for Rockwell for 12 years.
Richard Smucker, J M Smucker Co SJM 0.18%
Smucker is keeping it in the family by having nephew Mark Smucker take over for Richard as CEO.
Richard Anderson, Delta Air Lines, Inc. DAL 0.7%
Anderson suddenly retired in May after nine years as Delta CEO.
Stephen Chazen, Occidental Petroleum Corporation OXY 0.69%
Chazen served as CEO of Occidental for five years before retiring this year, but he will remain on-board as a strategic adviser.
Darren Huston, Priceline Group Inc PCLN 0.06%
Stumpf isn’t the only CEO to leave his position surrounded by a swarm of controversy. Huston was given the boot after an internal investigation revealed a personal relationship with an employee.
Roger Ailes, Fox News
Sticking with the theme of scandal, Ailes stepped down as CEO of Fox News after a series of allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace.
George Scangos, Biogen Inc BIIB 3.01%
Biogen chose to make a series of management changes after Tecfidera sales began to stall.
Ronald Boire, Barnes & Noble, Inc. BKS
The board announced…
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