Why did the resignations of the heads of listed Saudi companies decline during 2022?

The report of the “Saudi Chief Executives Initiative” and the “Sanam” company to attract executives revealed that the companies listed on the main Saudi stock market, “Tadawul” and “Nomu”, witnessed a clear decrease in the total number of appointments and resignations during the fiscal year 2022 compared to 2021.

The report indicated a decrease in the resignations of CEOs, which amounted to 42 cases during the fiscal year 2022 compared to 52 cases in the year 2021. This is despite a significant increase in the number of companies listed in the two markets during the past year.

The report pointed out that the luxury goods retail sector is the highest in terms of the average CEO continuity at a rate of 10 years, while the real estate development sector was the least at a rate of 3 years for the CEO.

Abdullah bin Muhammad Al-Kabrish, a consultant in corporate governance, said in an interview with Al-Arabiya that the decline in the volume of appointments and resignations at the level of Saudi CEOs in 2022, on an annual basis, is due to the stability of the economic situation in the Kingdom compared to many countries, as well as the level of maturity. for boards of directors, governance, and the recruitment and selection of appropriate CEOs.

Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Kabraish is a consultant in corporate governance

He added that the situation in 2021 is due to the exceptional case of the consequences of the Corona pandemic, which affected Saudi companies, and there were many CEOs unable to adapt flexibly with market data and the negative repercussions of the pandemic and come out with minimal losses, which forced many companies to replace CEOs in 2021.

“The increase in the number of Saudi CEOs in companies listed on the local stock market to 204 Saudi CEOs, compared to 45 Saudi CEOs, is due to the Kingdom’s interest in human capital, and the keenness to build the second level of leadership, which helped many of them assume the position of CEO in many From the companies in the recent period, so that the majority of Saudis became the closest and most qualified to know the requirements of the market and the objectives of the shareholders,” according to Abdullah bin Muhammad Al-Kabrish.