Dan Amos would be the first to let you know that he by no means anticipated to develop into CEO when he joined Aflac as a gross sales rep in 1973. He was glad in gross sales, and good at it. When the supplemental-insurance large provided him the presidency in 1983, taking that put up truly meant a monetary step down.
“I took a giant reduce in earnings, as a result of I did so nicely [in sales],” Amos advised ADWEEK on a latest video name from his workplace in Columbus, GA. “I wrote $600,000 [in policies] my first yr and, in my tenth yr, I wrote $11 million.”
However Amos accepted the promotion, which put him on a path that noticed him appointed CEO in 1990.
Amos counts many achievements within the job (together with championing the well-known speaking Duck) however essentially the most stunning one may be how lengthy he’s held onto it.
With 35 years on his punchcard, Amos is in the present day among the many longest-serving CEOs in America. (Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffet has him beat by simply 5 years).
As soon as upon a time, long-term occupants of the nook workplace have been simpler to seek out. Sam Walton served as Walmart’s CEO from 1962 till 1988—26 years. Leslie Wexner, who turned CEO of The Restricted in 1963, had served 57 years by the point he retired in 2020.
However resilient chief executives have gotten an endangered species. The typical tenure of a CEO within the S&P 500 (of which Aflac is part) is down to eight.9 years, in keeping with company management consultancy Spencer Stuart. In November 2024, government search agency Challenger, Grey & Christmas counted 1,824 CEOs who’d introduced they have been leaving their posts, the best tally for the reason that HR companies agency started watching CEO comings and goings in 2002.
Amos clearly likes his job, and the $20.7 million he took house in 2023 (in keeping with web page 61 of Aflac’s 2024 proxy assertion) is likely an incentive, too.
However even cash hasn’t been sufficient to stem the tide of executives leaving a put up that’s extra complicated and demanding than ever. Amos’ tenure, he mentioned, stems from the power to fulfill these calls for. He spoke of three specifically.
Wall Avenue is watching
Foremost is the expectation of swift outcomes.
“Due to the amount of cash that CEOs are paid, they’re anticipated to carry out a lot faster,” Amos mentioned. “In some methods, it’s like a [star] soccer or basketball coach—they receives a commission excessive quantities of cash, however they’re anticipated to carry out faster than they will truly do.”
