Gen X at Work · one of three stories

Nobody tells you what the top is really like.

FTSE 100 chief executives had spent an average of nine years inside the company before getting the job. They were 52 when they got it. The average departing chief executive was 59. Seven years in the chair, thirty to get there. Of those who have left, seven per cent got another top job.

I call the top The Apex. The place where you have two jobs: deliver growth, defend your position. It is narrow, temporary and difficult to leave well. I have been there three times and left three times, not always when I chose. The people who have been there mostly do not talk about it. On the Record is where they do.

Everything filed on this story

2026
A third of substantial British companies whose owner let go were bought by an unconnected companyMy count Magnus Wood, When British owners let go (Companies House PSC register, own count), 28 Sep 2026Nobody tells you what the top is really like.
2026
Owners who sell go seven years earlier than owners who hand onMy count Magnus Wood, When British owners let go (Companies House PSC register, own count), 28 Sep 2026Nobody tells you what the top is really like.
2026
Purchases of owner-controlled British companies peaked in 2021 and have not returned to that levelMy count Magnus Wood, When British owners let go (Companies House PSC register, own count), 28 Sep 2026Nobody tells you what the top is really like.
2026
The median owner of a substantial British company lets go at 57My count Magnus Wood, When British owners let go (Companies House PSC register, own count), 28 Sep 2026Nobody tells you what the top is really like.
2026
The average departing chief executive was fifty-nineSpencer Stuart, CEO Transitions in Europe 2025, 1 Feb 2026Nobody tells you what the top is really like.
2025
Seven per cent of former chief executives took another chief executive jobSpencer Stuart, CEO Transitions: How to Avoid a Bumpy Exit, 1 Oct 2025Nobody tells you what the top is really like.