What Does the Data Say About Director Departures?

As the CompanyIQ^® SEC EDGAR database on corporate governance shows, companies in the Russell 3000 index have a total of some 26,000 directors serving on their boards. A certain amount of churn among these directors is standard and expected due to life events, mergers and acquisitions, terminations, voluntary resignations, and mandated retirements.

This report looks at director churn in 2017 and 2018 through several lenses and focuses on director departures related to mandated retirement ages.

Major Findings

• Less Than 10% Departed – 6% of R3000 directors left in 2017, and 8% left in 2018.
• More Than 80% Left Before They Had To – An impressive 84% and 86% of directors subject to a mandatory retirement age left voluntarily before they were required to in both 2017 and 2018.
• 500% Increase in Full Board Resignations – 2018 saw a 500% increase in full board resignations, caused by a significant uptick in mergers.
• 53% Left Via Resignation – 53% of directors who left before they were required to in 2018 did so through resignation as opposed to retirement or not standing for re-election.
• 657 and 905 – Our review indicates that 657 directors in 2017 and 905 directors in 2018 who left were subject to a mandatory retirement.