Examples of CEO Changes Linked to Revenue-Generating Deals

Source:https://chatgpt.com/share/68b9b363-6424-8008-b523-7def51e32b29

Thanks for the clarification. I’ll look for examples from the past 10 years of U.S.-based publicly traded companies that changed their CEO shortly before announcing a revenue-generating deal, such as partnerships, acquisitions, or product launches, across all industries.I’ll get back to you with a summary of notable cases and the surrounding context.Examples of U.S. public companies with CEO changes shortly before revenue-generating deals (2015–2025):

  • Starbucks (Coffee Retail):

  • CEO Change: Howard Schultz stepped down as CEO and was succeeded by Kevin Johnson on April 3, 2017en.wikipedia.org.

  • Deal: On May 6, 2018, Starbucks announced a “Global Coffee Alliance” with Nestlé – a $7.15 billion licensing deal granting Nestlé perpetual rights to market and sell Starbucks-branded coffee and tea products globallywww.geekwire.com. (Nestlé gained distribution of Starbucks products in groceries and other retail channels, while Starbucks received upfront cash and ongoing royalties.)

  • Commentary: Johnson struck the Nestlé deal within his first year as CEO, a move that “boosted the company’s market presence by making its products available in grocery [and] convenience stores” worldwidefinanchill.com. The partnership was widely seen as part of Johnson’s strategy to drive revenue growth and refocus Starbucks on its core retail business after Schultz’s departurefinanchill.com.

  • General Electric (Conglomerate/Industrial):

  • CEO Change: GE ousted John Flannery after just 14 months and appointed H. Lawrence “Larry” Culp Jr. as CEO on October 1, 2018www.businessinsider.com. Culp, the first outsider CEO in GE’s history, was brought in amid pressure to turn around the struggling company.

  • Deal: On February 25, 2019, GE announced it would sell its biopharma business (part of GE Life Sciences) to Danaher Corp. for $21.4 billion in cashwww.businessinsider.com. The deal provided a significant cash infusion to pay down debt and streamline GE’s operations.

  • Commentary: Media and investors immediately linked Culp’s arrival to this divestiture. Culp – a former Danaher CEO – “had an outsized part to play” in reviving the previously stalled talks with Danaher and “helped get the deal across the finish line” shortly after taking the helmwww.businessinsider.comwww.businessinsider.com. The stock jumped on news of the sale, reflecting optimism that the new CEO would swiftly improve GE’s balance sheetwww.businessinsider.com.

  • Twitter, Inc. (Social Media):

  • CEO Change: Co-founder Jack Dorsey returned as CEO (initially interim) after Dick Costolo resigned on July 1, 2015, amid concerns about Twitter’s user growth and revenue. Dorsey was named permanent CEO in October 2015www.reuters.comwww.vanityfair.com.

  • Deal: In April 2016, only six months into Dorsey’s tenure, Twitter beat out tech rivals to secure a partnership with the NFL to live-stream 10 Thursday Night Football games on its platformwww.geekwire.com. Twitter reportedly paid $10 million for the rights – a move aimed at attracting more users and advertising dollars via live sports contentwww.geekwire.com.

  • Commentary: The “major coup” of landing NFL streaming rights was viewed as a direct response by Dorsey to Twitter’s stagnation under the previous regimewww.vanityfair.com. Vanity Fair noted that “Co-founder Jack Dorsey took over as CEO last fall…and has been tasked with turning Twitter around”, and the NFL deal was a bold attempt to fulfill that mandate by increasing user engagement and ad revenuewww.vanityfair.com. Executives emphasized that streaming live sports on Twitter would “attract more users and increase revenue from advertisers”, underscoring the strategic link between the CEO change and the new revenue-focused initiativewww.geekwire.com.

  • Merck & Co. (Pharmaceuticals):

  • CEO Change: Longtime CEO Kenneth Frazier retired effective June 30, 2021, and Merck’s CFO Robert M. Davis assumed the CEO role on July 1, 2021www.merck.com. Davis took over as Merck faced upcoming patent cliffs for key drugs.

  • Deal: On September 30, 2021, Merck announced an agreement to acquire Acceleron Pharma for approximately 11.5 billion in cash[fiercepharma.com](https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/merck-still-market-deals-1b-15b-range-ceo-says#:~:text=Merck%20made%20the%20biopharma%20industry%E2%80%99s,largest%20in%20the%20industry). Acceleron brought a late-stage cardiovascular drug candidate (sotatercept for pulmonary hypertension), expected to generate significant new revenue (projected ~n2 billion in annual sales by 2028)www.fiercepharma.com.

  • Commentary: The Acceleron acquisition was one of the first big moves under new CEO Rob Davis, signaling continuity in Merck’s growth-by-acquisition strategy. Industry observers noted that Merck pursued the deal “as [Davis] hopes to convince investors there is a lot more to the biopharma giant” beyond its aging blockbusterswww.statnews.com. In fact, Merck’s CEO highlighted that he “will be appropriately aggressive about…business development”, indicating that the leadership transition and the big-ticket deal were part of a deliberate plan to boost Merck’s future revenue streamswww.statnews.com. (Sources: Merck press release; Stat News)

  • eBay, Inc. (E-commerce):

  • CEO Change: eBay’s CEO Devin Wenig resigned on September 25, 2019, citing misalignment with a new board push for corporate changewww.ticketnews.comwww.latimes.com. His departure came amid pressure from activist investors (Elliott Management and Starboard) who wanted eBay to streamline by divesting certain units. eBay’s CFO Scott Schenkel assumed interim CEO duties while a search for a new CEO was conductedwww.latimes.com. (Jamie Iannone was later hired as permanent CEO in April 2020.)

  • Deal: Less than two months after Wenig’s exit, eBay announced the sale of StubHub, its ticket marketplace, to viagogo for **4.05 billion** (deal announced November 25, 2019)[reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/ebay-in-discussions-with-multiple-parties-for-sale-of-classified-business-idUSKBN20G00N/#:~:text=In%20March%202019%2C%20the%20company,and%20its%20StubHub%20ticketing%20unit). This followed through on one of the activists’ key demands – converting a non-core asset into cash for shareholders. (Subsequently, in July 2020, eBay also sold its Classifieds unit in a n9 billion deal, further realigning the company’s focus.)

  • Commentary: Wenig’s removal was widely seen as clearing the way for these asset sales. Reuters and Bloomberg reported that Wenig had “clashed with the board” by resisting calls to shed divisions like StubHub and the Classifieds businesswww.latimes.com. Indeed, “activist investors seek to break the company apart,” the Los Angeles Times noted, and Wenig’s ouster came as eBay “agreed to sell StubHub to Viagogo” shortly thereafterwww.latimes.comwww.reuters.com. The timing led analysts to conclude that the CEO change was directly linked to eBay’s strategic pivot – under new leadership – to unlock value through the StubHub deal and other transactions that would boost shareholder returnswww.latimes.comwww.latimes.com. Sources: Company press releases, news articles and investor reports for each casewww.geekwire.comfinanchill.comwww.businessinsider.comwww.businessinsider.comwww.geekwire.comwww.vanityfair.comwww.fiercepharma.comwww.fiercepharma.comwww.latimes.comwww.reuters.com. Each example is documented with contemporary news confirming the CEO transition and the subsequent deal, along with commentary linking the two events.