And when asked about the executive turnover at Sony Pictures, he said: "That's always going on in Hollywood.

In Europe, the rate of chief executive turnover, at 9.7 percent, was higher than North America's for the first time.

By the end of 1998, companies that had repriced options clocked chief executive turnover at 25.5 percent.

It was the first time since the firm began tracking chief executive turnover in August 1999 that there were fewer changes in January than December.

Top executive turnover is at record levels: roughly 35 percent of departing chiefs in 2005 were forced out, according to Booz-Allen Hamilton, the consulting firm.

Adieu to Miramax Miramax, the Manhattan-based production and distribution company, has seen some significant executive turnover in the last few weeks.

Many believe the rate of chief executive turnover will increase.

Kmart's executive turnover began in October, when Charles Chinni, the executive vice president for merchandising, was pushed out.

The branch's rapid expansion from a one-account, $1.5 million shop in 1983 to one with about $50 million in billings today was accompanied by significant executive turnover.

In the United States, while the rate of forced departures is rising, the overall level of chief executive turnover has declined.