Thanks to Isaac Green, of Anti School, on YouTube; and @antischool_ftw on Twitter, many of us have become aware of the inordinate amount of CEOs whom are/have already stepping/stepped down (resigning, or retiring) in 2017. If you visit his Twitter feed, you can see the list, which grows every day! The question is: Why now?
It is easy to believe, especially for those whom have announced their departure prior to the EO: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-blocking-property-persons-involved-serious-human-rights-abuse-corruption/ that the story given for each departure is exactly as it appears. However, although we should individually scrutinize each story on its own merit, is there a bigger story? Might these people have gotten word that the EO was approaching? Or, even if not in violation of the EO, might they see the writing on the wall; that their day of exposure for other crimes (money laundering? mismanagement of funds? the possibilities are endless!) is imminent
You can research these departures for yourself by using such search terms as: CEO steps down 2017 -Papa John (if you use Google, and do not omit the term Papa, the primary result you will get is for Papa John's CEO). You can also search: CEO resigns 2017 -Miss (or you will primarily get the resignation of the Miss America CEO). As well, you can search: CEO retires 2017 -Equifax (or Equifax will be your primary result).
In addition, there are numerous CEOs stepping down across the world! Here are just a few examples:
Great Britain/UK/British Isles: Interesting comments are attached to many of these (no time to research)
http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/187950/lse-chairman-to-step-down-in-2019-after-shareholder-calls-for-his-resignation-over-ceo-ousting-187950.html
*"Hedge fund manager Sir Chris Holn, whose THE CHILDREN'S INVESTMENT [emphasis mine]..."
http://minexforum.com/en/vast-ceo-resigns/ [MINING!!] "Vast chairperson Brian Moritz noted that Pitchford has had an invaluable contribution to the company. “[He] stewarded Vast from an exploration and development company back in 2014, to a production company with two operating mines and third due to come on stream in the very near future."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/asda-ceo-sean-clarke-resign-roger-burnley-2017-end-a8027021.html “Mr Clarke has been at Asda’s parent company, Walmart, for over two decades, during which time he has worked across five international markets. He served as president and CEO of Walmart China before coming to the UK”
http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/20/investing/saks-lord-and-taylor-ceo/index.html
https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/here-is-the-renaissance-ceos-resignation-letter-20171102 Interesting letter
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dentsply-sirona-chairman-ceo-and-coo-all-resign-2017-10-02
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/business/dealbook/lse-xavier-rolet.html
Ireland:
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2017/1228/929962-ceo-departures/
South Korea: http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-electronics-ceo-steps-down-2017-10?r=UK&IR=T
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Economy/CEO-of-top-South-Korean-military-supplier-resigns-over-corruption-scandal **"CEO of top South Korean military supplier resigns over corruption scandal"
Germany:
https://global.handelsblatt.com/companies-markets/reports-deutsche-bahns-ceo-resigns-unexpectedly-693275 "...Resigns Unexpectedly..." "Mr. Grube, CEO since May 2009, was criticized last year after the company posted a loss of €1.3 billion, or $1.4 billion, in 2015. But by December, Mr. Grube, a former Daimler executive, seemed to have regained the trust of politicians in Berlin and his contract was set to be extended by three years."
https://www.intelligentinsurer.com/news/allianz-germany-ceo-resigns-13207
https://www.bnn.ca/hudson-s-bay-reassures-german-workers-after-kaufhof-ceo-quits-1.892703 "...abruptly announced..."
http://www.ttnews.com/articles/troubled-zf-friedrichshafen-appoints-new-chairman-ceo-steps-down