Sometimes, but a data breach does not automatically get a CEO fired—and the evidence does not support saying that CEO firings are routine. Studies find an association between certain kinds of breaches and executive turnover, while examples often described as firings were actually reported as resignations, decisions to step down, or retirements.
What studies say about CEO turnover after a breach
A 2019 peer-reviewed study by Rajiv D. Banker and Cecilia Feng found that CEOs were more likely to turn over after breaches attributed to system deficiencies or human error. The finding is an association; it does not establish that every affected CEO was dismissed or that the breach alone caused a departure. The study’s abstract does not give a CEO-specific percentage. Read the study record.
One figure from that study is often easy to misread: the reported 72% increase in turnover likelihood applies to CIOs after system-deficiency breaches, not to CEO firings. The abstract did not report the same CIO association for criminal fraud or human error.
A 2020 study of U.S. public firms examined management turnover and other organizational responses to data breaches. In its turnover sample of 1,807 S&P 1500 firms, 108 firms experienced 178 personally identifiable information breach events. The study reported increased hazard of CTO turnover and unrelated divestitures, with responses varying according to firms’ performance relative to their aspirations. Its findings do not establish a general CEO firing rate. Read the study in Strategy Science.
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How often are CEOs fired or leave?
A 2017 Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance article reviewed approximately 50 cybersecurity breaches over five years and said CEOs were fired or stepped down in “only a handful” of cases. That is a limited descriptive review, not a representative rate for all breaches; “a handful” also should not be converted into a precise percentage. Read the article.
Broader findings remain mixed. A 2025 systematic review of empirical research describes studies that find increased CEO or CIO/CTO turnover as well as studies that find no increase in turnover among CEOs, CIOs, CFOs, or other senior executives. Differences in samples, breach definitions, executive roles, and measurement periods make a single all-purpose figure misleading. Read the systematic review in the Australian Journal of Management.
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Fired, resigned, retired: what the prominent cases actually show
| Company and year | Reported leadership change | What the case establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Target, 2014 | CEO Gregg Steinhafel said he would step down; TIME’s headline described the move as a resignation. Target said he held himself “personally accountable.” | It documents a departure in the aftermath of a major breach, not a proven firing. TIME reported that payment information for more than 40 million customers had been compromised. |
| Equifax, 2017 | Chairman and CEO Richard Smith retired. He said he believed new leadership was in the company’s best interests. | It documents a retirement following the breach, not a dismissal established by the cited report. Axios reported that approximately 143 million Americans were affected. |
Sources: TIME on Target; Axios on Equifax. These cases show why “turnover” and “firing” should not be used interchangeably. They also cannot, by themselves, show that breaches commonly cause CEO departures or were the sole reason for a particular executive’s exit.
Why the evidence does not produce a universal firing rate
Studies do not all count the same thing. One may measure any executive turnover, another a specific job such as CIO or CTO, and a news report may describe a board decision, a resignation, or a retirement. A statistical association between a breach and turnover is different from proof that a board fired a CEO because of the breach.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →The 2020 study focused on U.S. public firms and events from 2005 through 2016. It used Privacy Rights Clearinghouse archives and noted that state reporting laws had different thresholds and that some breaches might not have been reported. Its results therefore should not be generalized into a current rate for private companies, other countries, or every kind of cyberattack. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse breach information.
- Association: whether breaches are followed by a higher likelihood of executive turnover in a defined sample.
- Reason for a departure: what a company, board, or executive says about an individual change.
- Formal dismissal: whether the CEO was actually fired rather than stepping down or retiring.
- Security effect: whether replacing an executive reduces the chance of another breach.
Those are separate questions, and evidence for one does not settle the others.
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Does replacing a CEO prevent another breach?
There is no settled evidence that replacing a CEO, by itself, prevents a future breach. The 2025 systematic review calls the evidence on the effectiveness of executive turnover inconclusive: some studies suggest CIO turnover helps remediate IT-control weaknesses, while others find no significant effect on later breaches. A company’s leadership decision should not be mistaken for proof that its security problems have been fixed.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What this means for customers
A CEO’s departure is a governance signal, not a direct measure of what happened to an individual customer’s information or what protections are now in place. For a personal-finance decision, pay attention to the company’s breach notices and concrete steps affecting your accounts—such as whether payment credentials need replacing or whether account monitoring is offered—rather than treating an executive’s job status as a substitute for those details.
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