These CEOs need a turnaround, fast.
Which CEOs are in the hot seat in 2019? The chief executive role has inherently high turnover, but most of the C-suite bigwigs below have committed sins of omission, commission, or have simply been on the throne too long without satisfactory results materializing. Some of the company leaders on the following list are too powerful, due to founder status or sway over shareholders, to be ousted this year, although if current share price trajectories continue, pressure will mount regardless. Some of the other CEOs below don’t have that sort of protection, and 2019 may end up being their last as top honcho.
Evan Spiegel, Snap (ticker: SNAP)
If corporate America were run on pure merit, Evan Spiegel would’ve been out as CEO long ago. Shares of the ephemeral messaging app business have been in free fall virtually since Day One, when it went public in early 2017. Facebook (FB) ruthlessly copied the Snapchat app with its Instagram Stories rollout, stealing millions of Snapchat’s users and reversing the rapid growth leading up to its IPO. After peaking above $27 in its first month of trading, less than two years later shares are faltering below $6 apiece, and the company’s been hemorrhaging executives recently, with the sudden departure of its chief financial officer causing shares to fall 14 percent overnight.
Doug Parker, American Airlines Group (AAL)
The consolidating airline industry has certainly seen its ups and downs in recent years — mostly down for American Airlines. Over the last year, AAL has been one of the worst-performing stocks in the entire S&P 500, with shares down over 40 percent. Parker, who’s helmed American since the 2013 merger with US Airways, is stuck between a rock and a hard place, with a lousy balance sheet and rising fuel costs in 2018 impacting results. American Airlines’ fall from grace may soon fall at the feet of Parker, who let rival United Continental (UAL) poach Scott Kirby to serve as its own CEO, a move that’s proven harmful to AAL.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook (FB)
Not unlike Evan Spiegel, Mark Zuckerberg would probably be out at Facebook if he weren’t an untouchable founder, Silicon Valley wunderkind, big-time shareholder and recruiting machine. Last year was one of the worst years in Facebook’s short history, and despite Zuck’s legendary status, he was still one of the most visible CEOs on the hot seat in 2018, being called before Congress to explain Facebook’s role in Russia’s disinformation campaign in the 2016 elections. That said, the first domino to fall in 2019 is far more likely to be COO Sheryl Sandberg, who had more hands-on exposure to the day-to-day advertising part of the business and the multiple privacy scandals.
Leslie Wexner, L Brands (LB)
By far the longest tenured CEO on the list, Leslie Wexner deserves a lot of credit, having built L Brands from scratch. The owner of Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, L Brands was founded by Wexner in 1963. But you do the math: Wexner, at 81, is way past typical retirement age. Even given his elevated status as founder, few execs are running $7 billion public companies at Wexner’s age. With LB stock down 45 percent in the last year and the rise of e-commerce calling for a forward-looking visionary leader, it might be time for this retail legend to finally step down as CEO.
Elon Musk, Tesla (TSLA)
One of the more famous chiefs on Wall Street, Musk had an incredibly rocky 2018, and was even forced to step down as executive chairman of Tesla last year in an agreement with the Securities & Exchange Commission in order to settle fraud charges. A prodigious inventor, marketer and businessman, no one’s denying Musk’s ability, but he’s certainly in the hot seat as CEO of Tesla, which is struggling to turn consistently profitable and has repeatedly missed self-imposed production and delivery deadlines for its Model 3 sedan. With SpaceX and the Boring Co. as his other ventures, it’s already tough for Musk to devote full-time attention to Tesla.
Richard Kramer, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT)
Since 2010, Kramer’s been the CEO of Goodyear, the $5 billion global tire giant. With commodity prices rising, a severe slowdown in everyone’s favorite growth market (China), and a trade war stifling growth, Goodyear’s issues aren’t all on Kramer. Still, performance is performance, and GT stock, along with several of the other names listed, is another one of the worst performers in the S&P 500 over the last year, with shares off more than 40 percent. The company’s debt load is currently pretty heavy, and for the last decade Kramer has had the opportunity to turn things around, but revenue is still down 20 percent in the last five years alone.
CEOs who are on the hot seat.
To recap, these corporate CEOS are on the hot seat as 2019 begins:
— Evan Spiegel, Snap (SNAP)
— Doug Parker, American Airlines Group (AAL)
— Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook (FB)
— Leslie Wexner, L Brands (LB)
— Elon Musk, Tesla (TSLA)
— Richard Kramer, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT)
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6 CEOs on the Hot Seat in 2019 originally appeared on usnews.com
