By David Chen, Senior Financial Correspondent BBC Business (Finance) 14 January 2026

Why more CEOs are sharing the top job

The traditional image of the chief executive is one of a singular, decisive leader at the apex of the corporate pyramid. Yet a growing number of companies, from tech giants like Netflix and Oracle to disruptive startups, are challenging this convention by splitting the top job between two leaders. This co-CEO model, once a corporate anomaly, is gaining traction as a strategic response to the escalating pressures of the modern C-suite, promising greater resilience, better decision-making, and a more sustainable approach to leadership.

The shift is not just anecdotal; it's backed by data. An analysis by public company intelligence firm MyLogIQ reveals the number of co-CEO structures within the Russell 3000 index more than doubled from 11 in 2015 to 24 in 2024. The trend accelerated last year, with major corporations including Oracle, Comcast, and Spotify making dual appointments to their highest office, following a path established by Netflix, which has operated with co-CEOs since 2020.

The Problem with the Top Job

While chief executives are handsomely compensated—a 2025 report showed UK FTSE 100 CEOs earn 122 times the average UK worker's salary—the personal cost is immense. The role's demands are relentless, leading to significant personal and professional strain.

A stark 2024 survey from leadership advisory firm ICEO found that 56% of top executives reported feeling burnt out. The co-CEO model directly addresses this by dividing the immense responsibility, accountability, and psychological burden between two individuals.

For nearly 16 years, Pippa Begg and Jennifer Sundberg steered Board Intelligence, a firm providing board-level analysis to clients like Rolls-Royce and Nationwide, as co-chief executives. "We are quite different people - very much yin and yang - but I think decisions are better made with two brains rather than one as it stops hubris," says Begg. Together, they grew the company to 200 employees, demonstrating the model's viability.

A Strategic Division of Labour

Beyond mitigating burnout, the dual-leadership structure allows for a more strategic allocation of skills and focus. Leadership coach Audrey Hametner has observed how this enables companies to leverage the distinct strengths of two executives, creating a leadership unit that is more dynamic and comprehensive than a single individual could be.

Key advantages of this strategic pairing include:

• Complementary Skill Sets: Hametner notes a common and effective pairing involves one CEO who is an "outgoing and high-level thinker," driving vision and external relations, while the other is "more detail-oriented and loves to speak to the data and the nuances," managing internal operations and execution.

• Specialised Focus: In one of Hametner's client examples, a co-CEO structure allowed one leader to concentrate on marketing and product development, while the other managed the complex domains of finance, government regulatory bodies, and legal affairs. This ensures deep expertise is applied to critical business functions.

• Enhanced Business Continuity: The model provides a crucial layer of redundancy. Hametner recalls a CEO client who had not taken a holiday in five years but was finally able to do so after appointing a co-CEO. The ability for one leader to take time off for vacation, family needs, or health reasons without halting business momentum is a powerful risk-mitigation tool.

Enabling Work-Life Integration

The intense demands of the CEO role often come at the expense of personal and family life. A study by executive search firm Russell Reynolds found that 60% of CEOs report spending too little time with their families. The co-CEO model offers a practical solution, particularly for retaining top female talent.

During her tenure at Board Intelligence, Pippa Begg took three maternity leaves of approximately six months each, returning to a four-day week. Her partner, Jennifer Sundberg, took two maternity leaves in the same period. Begg acknowledges how unusual this is, citing data from That Works For Me showing 71% of women in leadership take less than six months' leave for fear of damaging their careers.

The same study highlights a 32% drop in the number of women at the managerial level after having children. Begg credits the dual-CEO structure for her ability to defy this trend. "Without the co-CEO structure, the trade off would have either been too great for the business, or too great for the way that we wanted to have our children," she reflects. "We probably would have felt that we needed to find a new CEO, or even sell the business."

Proven in Practice

The benefits are being realised across different industries and company stages.

At "vibe coding" startup Anything, co-founder and co-CEO Dhruv Amin was able to take two separate three-week paternity leaves in 2024 and 2025. "Marcus [Lowe, co-CEO] has covered for me twice," says the San Francisco-based Amin. "The structure gives us permission to be human without everything falling apart."

The model's resilience was tested under tragic circumstances at Finnish payment platform Enfuce. In 2024, co-CEO Denise Johansson’s father died suddenly, leaving her to grieve while simultaneously inheriting another business. Her partner, Monika Liikamaa, with whom she has led the company since 2016, immediately absorbed the additional workload. "Monika stepped in without hesitation," says Johansson. "She created the space I needed to deal with both grief and practical issues."

The Future of the C-Suite

As the complexity of global business grows and the conversation around executive well-being becomes more urgent, the co-CEO model is evolving from a curiosity into a compelling strategic option. It challenges the myth of the indispensable, all-powerful leader, replacing it with a more collaborative, resilient, and arguably more effective paradigm.

For boards and investors, the implications are significant. A dual-leadership structure can be seen as a forward-thinking approach to succession planning, risk management, and fostering a healthier corporate culture. While success hinges on the chemistry and clearly defined roles of the two leaders, the evidence suggests that when it works, two heads are indeed better than one. The trend of sharing the top job is no longer just an experiment—it is becoming a blueprint for sustainable 21st-century leadership.