Aspectos relevantes da origem e da fama do Chief Executive Officer (CEO) no desempenho das empresas e na percepção do mercado

Abstract

This article investigated the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) turnover decisions and the relation between the characteristics of the new CEO chosen with the company's performance and the perceptions of the stock market. Two characteristics of interest about new CEO were assessed for the analysis: the CEO’s origin (internal or external) and his status of recognition and fame (normal CEO or superstar CEO). 132 turnover events were considered between 2010 and 2019, and analyzed using methods of difference in means, Logit and Probit models, event study and graphical analysis of the evolution of the company's results for the years after the turnover decision. The conclusion points to the existence of abnormal returns in CEO turnover decisions, however, such returns are specific to each event and can be positive or negative according to the circumstances of each decision. The origin of the new CEO and his status of fame does not seem to be a major concern of the market at the time of the turnover decision. Superstar CEOs are, on average, older and with a higher proportion of engineers when compared to normal CEOs. Larger companies and with better operacional performance measured by return on assets (ROA) are more likely to choose a superstar CEO. After the turnover decisions, the analysis of the graphics allows to observe differences in the evolution of the companies’ performance over the years according to the origin of the CEO and his status of fame.