CEOs at S&P 500 companies stay in their jobs for an average of seven years, the Harvard Business Review says. It’s shorter than that in South Africa. According to PwC’s Executive Directors 2022 report, CEOs in the “basic materials” segment stay in charge for about six years on average. 

Then there are CEOs who hazard company-changing transactions, and fail. Chris Griffith, former CEO of Gold Fields, didn’t last two years in his role after  the company was outbid for Canadian miner Yamana Gold. And despite catapulting Harmony into the world’s top 10 gold miners, Bernard Swanepoel left after failing to buy Gold Fields. ..

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