Dive Brief:
- The total number of African American/Black CFOs in Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies ticked down from 16 last year to just 15 out of 663 sitting finance chiefs, marking a 25% drop from 20 in 2021, according to the Mid-year Volatility Report 2026 released Monday by Crist Kolder Associates, an executive search firm based in suburban Chicago.
- The decline — contrasting with a rise in Asian and Hispanic CFOs – partially explains a plateauing this year in the share of top finance seats held by non-white executives. The total share of Black, Asian and Hispanic CFOs fell to 14.4% after rising from 6.5% in 2016 and hitting a high of 14.9% in 2024, according to the report.
- The report reflects a shift in business and government policy, as well as in the broader culture, away from a focus on increasing diversity that began around the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Josh Crist, co-managing partner at Crist Kolder.
Dive Insight:
The Supreme Court’s 2023 decision outlawing affirmative action along with the Trump Administration’s 2025 executive order directing heads of federal agencies to target diversity, equity and inclusion programs prompted many companies to roll back DEI programs, CFO Dive reported.
The reversal followed a period in which many boards made a “massive push” to increase diversity in their ranks, Crist told CFO Dive. During the period immediately after the pandemic, boards sought to fill jobs from among a diverse group of candidates. That is no longer the case, he said.
In contrast to Black and African American executives, some groups have seen their representation in the C-suite rise in recent years. The share of Asian CFOs has nearly tripled over the past 10 years, though it ticked down by one to 61 this year. Meanwhile, the number of Hispanic/Latino CFOs inched up by one this year to hit a new decade high of 20.
The share of women in CFO suites also seems to have leveled off, inching up to 17% this year from 16.5%, a figure that is still down from a high of 18.5% in 2023, according to the report. The technology sector has the highest number of women CFOs at 22.
The report used U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Diversity definitions to define ethnic or racially diverse groups.
