S&P 500 companies have continued to refresh their boards in 2022.
However, following an exceptionally dynamic turnover in 2021, when companies appointed 456 new directors, boards appointed just 395 new directors in the 2022 proxy year. More than half of S&P 500 boards (55%) appointed at least one new director, down from 59% in 2021. Highlights from the 2022 S&P 500 New Director Snapshot include:
- 72% of this year’s new directors are from historically underrepresented groups (i.e., women, underrepresented racial/ethnic groups and the LGBTQ+ community). The proportion of all S&P 500 directors from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups remains the same as 2021, at 22%, while the share of women directors rose from 30% to 32%.
- Half (50%) of new directors appointed to S&P 500 boards have international experience, up from 34% in 2021. These directors may be U.S. natives who spent time overseas or directors originally from other parts of the world.
- Just over one-third of new directors (34%) are serving on their first public company board, down slightly from 2021.
- Next-gen directors (those age 50 and younger) account for 18% of the incoming class of 2022, up from 16% in 2021.
- This year’s data confirm an ongoing shift in the professional backgrounds of new directors. S&P 500 boards are appointing more line and functional leaders and fewer active CEOs. One-third of new directors are division presidents or line/functional leaders, compared with 22% a decade ago. Over the same period, the representation of current or retired CEOs fell to 26% from 41% in 2012.