Co-CEOs – Bold Leadership Design or Risky Gamble?
- Brainz Magazine
- Oct 8
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 9
Written by Shery Saeed, Executive Coach & CEO Advisor
Shery Saeed is a transformational executive coach and trusted advisor to bold CEOs, visionary founders, and culture-shaping leaders. With over 25 years of experience navigating high-stakes leadership moments, she blends strategic rigor with deep psychological insight to help clients lead with clarity, scale with conviction, and evolve with purpose.
A quiet revolution is reshaping leadership in the corner office. More companies are embracing the co-CEO model, splitting the top job in two to tackle complexity and rapid change. While some thrive with agility and clarity, others struggle with friction and drift. This article explores when dual leadership works, when it fails, and what truly makes the difference.
A quiet revolution in the corner office
A quiet revolution is reshaping corporate leadership. From Netflix to KKR, and yes, Oracle, more companies are splitting the top job in two. The co-CEO model, once a rarity, is becoming a deliberate governance experiment as boards seek ways to manage scale, complexity, and AI-driven transformation.
But the track record is mixed. When it works, companies gain speed and resilience. When it fails, they drift into confusion and power friction. The difference? Not personality or pedigree, but architecture.
When co-CEOs work
Netflix
Since 2020, Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters have shared leadership at Netflix. Sarandos oversees content, marketing, and legal. Peters manages product, technology, and operations. Distinct lanes let Netflix balance creativity and technical scale without bottlenecks.
Lesson: Complementary focus fuels agility.
KKR
Private equity firm KKR appointed Scott Nuttall and Joseph Bae as co-CEOs in 2021. Bae leads private markets and Asia expansion, while Nuttall oversees credit, capital markets, and insurance. Each owns a domain with measurable outcomes.
Lesson: Clear lanes create calm in complexity.
Oracle
Oracle recently named Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia as co-CEOs while Safra Catz moved to Executive Vice Chair. One drives infrastructure, and the other leads AI and applications. It is an experiment in distributing velocity across two high-stakes arenas.
Lesson: The structure can work if governance, cadence, and metrics align.
When co-CEOs fail
Standard Life Aberdeen
Following its 2017 merger, Martin Gilbert and Keith Skeoch became co-CEOs in a move designed to combine financial expertise and client reach. Instead, overlapping authority bred friction and strategic drift. The model was dropped within a few years.
Lesson: Shared titles without clear accountability breed stagnation.
SAP SE
SAP has tried the co-CEO model multiple times, with each attempt ending in a return to single leadership. Misalignment on strategy and communication blurred accountability and confused both employees and investors.
Lesson: Without unity of direction, dual leadership erodes trust.
The real difference
Across all examples, the main takeaway is consistent: a well-designed operating structure, rather than personal traits, determines the success of co-CEOs.
Successful co-CEO models share five conditions:
Clear domain separation. Non-overlapping responsibilities prevent turf wars.
Complementary skillsets. Leaders must bring different strengths, not mirror each other.
Alignment rituals. Scheduled decision checkpoints and escalation paths keep decisions fluid.
Cultural readiness. High-trust environments absorb ambiguity, fragile ones fracture.
Defined metrics. Shared KPIs, stop/scale rules, and time-to-decision (D→Live) benchmarks.
Lessons for boards and CEOs
Before adopting a co-CEO model, ask:
Is the company truly complex enough to justify dual leadership?
Can domains be divided with real ownership, not symbolic parity?
Do governance systems enable rapid, conflict-free alignment?
What happens if one co-CEO leaves? What is the continuity plan?
Does your culture reward or punish shared accountability?
Final thoughts
The rise of co-CEOs is not simply about sharing power, it is about scaling leadership to meet the demands of a fast-changing world. Netflix and KKR show what is possible when clarity meets complementarity. SAP and Standard Life Aberdeen remind us what happens when vision splinters.
The question is not whether two CEOs can share the top seat. It is whether the company has an operating system, the rhythms, rules, and rituals, to make it work.
Ultimately, titles are easy, but building the right leadership design is what truly defines long-term success.
Read more from Shery Saeed
Shery Saeed, Executive Coach & CEO Advisor
Shery Saeed is a transformational executive coach and trusted advisor to high-performing CEOs, founders, and cultural change-makers. With over 25 years of experience across industries and economic cycles, she helps bold leaders navigate uncertainty, scale with precision, and evolve their leadership identity to meet the moment. Her work fuses strategic rigor with deep psychological insight, unlocking the internal shifts required to lead powerfully in a world defined by constant change.
