(Bloomberg/Jeff Green) — Chief executive officer departures this year at Bumble Inc. and Funko Inc. are helping to fuel a record crop of female CEOs who’ve been ousted from their jobs.
A total of 14 ousters in 2025, which also includes departures by the top executives at Bath & Body Works Inc. and Vail Resorts Inc., marks the highest number of women CEOs forced out during any single year since at least 2017, according to exechange.com, which tracks executive changes at public companies.
Exechange rates CEO departures on a scale of 0-10, which 0 being a voluntary retirement and 10 being a clear firing. The 14 women included in its analysis ranged from 8 to 10 on that scale. Funko, Bumble, Bath & Body Works and Vail did not return requests for comment.
Executives overall are under more pressure, as evidenced by the torrid pace of total CEO ousters in recent years. This year has already brought 70 force-outs in all through July 31, according to exechange.com. However, according to exechange.com founder Daniel Schauber, the data also shows that female CEOs have shorter tenures and are more likely to be forced out than their male counterparts.
For example, toymaker Funko replaced CEO Cynthia Williams after just one year on the job, naming board member and former CEO Michael Lunsford as interim head to reverse the company’s slumping fortunes.
And that’s indicative of another pattern when it comes to CEO turnover: It’s rare for a departing female CEO to be replaced by another woman. It’s happened only a handful of times in the last 50 years at public companies that have been helmed by women, said Andrew Grissom, director for community growth at Catalyst Inc., which which tracks and advocates for women in power.
Bumble is a rare exception. It replaced Lidiane Jones as CEO in January with Whitney Wolfe Herd, but Wolfe Herd is the returning founder, who had handed power to Jones a year earlier.
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