- After less than two years in the position
- Praise and thanks for Gibson
- Shyam Reddy taking over
- Gibson kept it short and said 36 words
(exechange) — Marietta, Georgia, March 21, 2023 — Dwight Gibson, chief executive of BlueLinx, leaves his position. As announced by BlueLinx Holdings Inc. in a news release and in a regulatory filing published on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, Dwight A.K. Gibson leaves his post as chief executive officer at the wholesale distributor of building products, after less than two years in the role, effective immediately.
The average tenure of CEOs who announced their departure over the past 12 months was 8.1 years. Around 13% of departing CEOs left their posts within two years. This is according to data collected by CEO-exit research firm exechange.
exechange tracks CEO departures at the 3,000 largest publicly traded companies in the U.S., examines the reasons CEOs leave and determines the Push‑out Score™, a measure of pressure on departing chief executives on a scale of 0 to 10.
Dwight Gibson’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Shyam K. Reddy, most recently Chief Legal and Sustainability Officer and Corporate Secretary at BlueLinx Holdings Inc.
“Navigate a challenging macroeconomic environment”
BlueLinx did not give an explicit reason for Dwight Gibson’s departure from the CEO post. Kim Fennebresque, Chairman of the Board, stated: “Our Board is confident that Shyam is well suited to successfully navigate a challenging macroeconomic environment, while continuing to position the business for profitable growth.”
The top three reasons cited in corporate announcements for CEO departures over the past 12 months are performance issues (27.4% of cases), implementation of a planned succession (17.1%) and the statement that the time was right for a change (9.7%), according to exechange data. Other motives given for leadership changes included the outgoing CEO’s wish to pursue other opportunities (5.3% of cases), personal reasons (3.7%) and conduct issues (2.2%). Rather rarely stated reasons are health problems (1.6% of cases), disagreement (1.2%), death (1.2%), the desire for more time with family (0.9%) and career change (0.9%). Sometimes, more than one reason was given. In 28.7% of cases, no reason was given.
Precise information regarding Dwight Gibson’s future plans was not immediately available.
“Departing”
BlueLinx said: “Mr. Reddy succeeds Dwight A.K. Gibson, who is departing the Company and stepping down as a member of the BlueLinx Board.”
BlueLinx further said: “BlueLinx Holdings Inc. (the “Company”) announced the departure of Dwight Gibson from his role as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, effective March 21, 2023.”
“Not due to any disagreement”
BlueLinx stated, regarding the change: “Mr. Gibson’s departure as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company was not due to any matter relating to compliance with the Company’s operations, policies or practices. Furthermore, his departure as a Director was not due to any disagreement with the Company.”
Share price increase since June 2021
The announcement follows an increase in BlueLinx Holdings Inc.’s share price of 42% since June 2021. June 2021 is the month in which Gibson’s tenure as CEO began.
In the position of CEO since 2021
Dwight Gibson became CEO of the Company in 2021.
Dwight Gibson has served as the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer and Director since June 2021.
From May 2020 to May 2021, Gibson served as Chief Commercial Officer at SPX Flow, Inc., a provider of process solutions, having previously led its Food & Beverage and Industrial Segments as President from June 2016 to May 2020.
Prior to these roles, Gibson worked for HVAC manufacturer Ingersoll Rand for 11 years, most recently leading significant growth initiatives as President of Climate Strategic Initiatives for the company’s climate segment.
Gibson holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University, a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University, and a Master of Science from the London School of Economics.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of Interface, Inc., a worldwide commercial flooring company.
36 words by Dwight Gibson
In the news release announcing his departure as CEO of BlueLinx Holdings Inc., Dwight Gibson received praise and thanks.
In announcing the leadership change, Dwight Gibson kept it short and said 36 words.
“A stronger, more profitable business”
Dwight Gibson stated: “It has been a privilege to work with the BlueLinx team to continue building BlueLinx into a stronger, more profitable business during my tenure, while supporting our customers and suppliers with industry-leading, value-added services and solutions.”
Over the past 12 months, 25% of all outgoing CEOs remained silent in the departure announcement, according to data compiled by exechange. Departing CEOs who did make a statement said an average of 110 words. The longest statement was 510 words. The shortest statement was 23 words. Leadership transitions in which departing CEOs provide conspicuously short, excessively long or no explanations for their move are statistically associated with elevated pressure and show an increased incidence of Push-out Scores above the critical threshold of 5.
38% of CEOs are forced out or fired
When CEO departures are announced, exechange determines the Push-out Score on a scale of 0 to 10 to assess how likely it is that the chief executive was pushed out or felt pressure to leave the position, with 0 being most likely a voluntary move and 10 being most likely a forced exit. Anything over a 5 indicates that there are valid reasons to believe an executive may have been pushed out.
Of the 321 CEO departures in the Russell 3000 Index evaluated over the past 12 months (March 21, 2022, to March 20, 2023), the average Push-out Score was 6, according to exechange data. References to conduct issues, disagreements and irregularities lead to the highest Push-out Scores. When performance issues, time with family or pursuit of other opportunities were cited as departure reasons, the average Push-out Scores were also significantly elevated.
Around 38% of the CEO departure events from the past 12 months received Push-out Scores of 8 or higher.
In other words, in the past 12 months, three in eight departing CEOs were forced out or fired.
Push-out Score for Dwight Gibson’s move determined
The Push-out Score regarding Dwight Gibson’s move is explained point by point in the exechange report.
exechange reached out to BlueLinx and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 13.2023 ($).