In the past decade, the number of outgoing CEOs who’ve stepped into executive chair roles has quietly tripled from single digits to two dozen or more. So far this year, there have been 13 such moves, with a few more companies still to file corporate proxies. In 2020, the list includes chair appointments at blue chips such as Abbott Laboratories, Clorox, IBM, Lockheed Martin and Nike.

What’s remarkable is that more than a third (36%) of S&P 500 CEOs who resigned in 2020 have taken this route. That’s a higher number than at any point in the past dozen years, according to an analysis by data intelligence firm MyLogIQ for Agenda. MyLogIQ combed proxies dating back to 2009 to find insights on how many CEOs ascended to lead the board this way.

In addition, in 40% of cases, the chairperson ended up receiving more total compensation than when he or she was chief executive. Several experts said that often occurs when a CEO’s annual base salary, bonus, or long-term incentive payments have been deferred and the person steps down before receiving them.