CMO Tenure 2026: Snapshot of an Expanding Role for Marketing Leaders

Shorter tenures, brighter futures

The average tenure among CMOs in the S&P 500 is just 4.1 years, compared to 5.0 years for all C-suite roles at those companies. (Only COOs were shorter, at 3.3 years on average, likely because COOs are often the role for CEO aspirants.)

The short tenure may seem like an indication of a revolving door for marketing leaders, but in our analysis, the opposite is true. When CMOs leave their role, they are likely to advance to bigger responsibilities. Of the 218 CMO exits between 2021 and 2025, nearly two-thirds (62%) were either promoted at their company or went on to a similar or bigger role at another company. Notably, 9% advance to a CEO role, and 13% become a divisional CEO/president or COO. Of those leaving their organization, 77% land at a new company within six months.

This phenomenon is particularly pronounced at consumer companies, where marketing is a huge driver of business performance and where CMOs are often developed for the CEO role. CMO tenure at consumer companies is the shortest of the industries we analyzed (3.5 years, followed by healthcare at 3.9 years). Yet that is likely a measure of success for leaders on their way to a CEO spot.

Marketing without a chief marketing officer

Roughly a third of SP&P 500 companies (31%) do not have a chief marketing officer, in line with historical averages. Most of these companies have some type of marketing capability, but it may sit elsewhere on the org chart. For example, some companies decentralize marketing to regions or business units, without a C-level leader overseeing it at the enterprise level.

In some industries like industrials (where just 53% of companies have a CMO), complex channels and business-unit-driven commercial models are more common. Similarly, just 56% of healthcare companies have a CMO, potentially because of regulatory constraints, or because marketing at those organizations, particularly providers, is more of a support function focused on communications and public relations, rather than an enabler of growth.

In still other situations, the top marketing role has evolved to encompass a broader set of responsibilities — akin to a “CMO-plus” role, with a corresponding title change. For example, in the hospitality industry, many companies now have a chief commercial officer, responsible for sales and marketing. Software companies are designating a chief revenue officer. And retail companies are more likely to name a chief customer officer, who oversees not just the traditional remit of a CMO — brand, creative media, insights and analytics — but also omnichannel activation, retail design and assortment, and even in the in-store experience.

Hiring primarily from within

In our sample, 62% of CMOs were appointed from within and 38% are externally hired. Of that latter group, nearly half (43%) come from a different industry, suggesting companies are seeking a different perspective or capability set. Overall, 27% of CMOs have previously held that role at another organization.

Some industries show a more significant pattern of hiring externally. For example, among financial services companies, 47% of current CMOs were hired outside the firm (9 percentage points higher than the average across all industries). Of that group, 43% were hired from outside the financial services industry. That could suggest that companies increasingly recognize that marketing can be a strategic revenue driver, even as some companies shift from product-first campaigns and strategies to client-first approaches. The shift also underscores a potential need for some financial services firms to strengthen their internal development program and succession planning for marketing leaders.

Conversely, industrial companies and those in technology, media, telecom and services are far more likely to hire CMOs from within their industry, even if they look outside their own organization. Among those companies, just 26% of those hired from outside the company came from a different industry. A possible explanation is that some of these companies — particularly in the tech sector — have highly specialized expertise and fast-paced cultures, with management teams believing that these characteristics make the transition from another industry more difficult.

More women CMOs, but still not enough from underrepresented groups

CMOs have shown strong progress in gender representation compared to most of their C-suite peers. Exactly half of CMOs on the S&P 500 are women, significantly higher than the 35% for C-suite leaders overall. (Just 9% of CEOs are women, and 16% of COOs.)

At the same time, just 9% of CMOs are from historically underrepresented ethnic or racial groups. That is lower than for other C-suite roles — of which 12% overall are from these backgrounds — and it reflects limited progress in the past several years.

Methodology

The study is based on an analysis of the tenures and backgrounds of CMOs from the 346 named CMOs of S&P 500 companies as of June 30, 2025.