October Sees Record Number of CEO Exits

Lucent Technologies Inc. former Chairman and Chief Executive Rich McGinn was among the record 129 CEO departures during October, a rate of more than four a day. Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., which tracks executive data, said chief executive departures rose 25% over September, when 103 CEOs left their companies. A year earlier, only 60 chief executives exited. CEOs of “dot-com” companies led the list with 25 departures, as many companies in the industry struggled to try to achieve profitability. Gray said that 19 chief executive departures came from companies in the service sector, with 30 more coming from computer and technology-related companies, including software and services.