Latest news with #Tonello
Hindustan Times
30-07-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
The Gen Xers Who Waited Their Turn to Be CEO Are Getting Passed Over
When it comes to the C-suite, Gen X might be doomed to live up to its 'forgotten generation' moniker. More baby boomers are working past traditional retirement ages . By the time they are ready to pass the torch, millennials will be reaching for it. This is already happening at more companies. In the Russell 3000, 41.5% of chief executives are at least 60 years old, up from 35.1% in 2017. Over the same period, the share of CEOs in their 30s and 40s has grown to 15.1% from 13.8%, according to research by the Conference Board and ESGAUGE. That leaves Gen Xers, typically defined as those born between 1965 and 1980, with fewer chances to lead. People in their 50s held 51.1% of CEO seats eight years ago. Now they occupy 43.4%. Many Gen Xers say they operated on the belief that if they paid their dues, their time would come. But as they enter what is usually the prime, C-suite career stage, more businesses are retaining their aging leaders or skipping a generation in search of the next ones. 'We're starting to see a barbell phenomenon in the CEO role where Gen X is being squeezed in the middle,' says Matteo Tonello, head of benchmarking and analytics at the Conference Board. Maybe it's fitting that workers dubbed 'slackers' in their youth would reach the top less often, though Tonello says companies don't necessarily lack faith in Gen Xers. Their predicament is largely a result of bad timing. Facing a pandemic, recession and supply-chain problems in recent years, companies prized boomers' experience. Now some are turning to millennials to navigate the advent of artificial intelligence. Gen Xers, especially those about to turn 60, might have missed their moment. Set up for disappointment The cruel thing is a lot of Xers don't realize they are headed for dead ends. 'A type of person I come across in my business all the time is the executive-in-waiting,' says Shawn Cole, president of Cowen Partners Executive Search. 'They assume when their boss retires, they're going to get the seat. A lot of folks are going to be disappointed.' The most vulnerable people are those sandwiched between leaders on the young side of the boomer cohort and hard-charging older millennials. Say you're a 55-year-old lieutenant with a protégé who is 44 and a CEO who is 63. If the boss hangs on for five more years, the board will be tempted to go with the younger option. One bright spot for Gen X executives whose windows are closing: Private-equity backed companies remain eager to hire them, says Bo Burch, CEO of Human Capital Solutions. A private-equity firm hoping to exit an investment in three to five years generally wants a veteran manager for a short stint. A 50-something often fits that bill. But in other settings, Gen Xers frequently get stuck in No. 2 roles. They have to fight to be seen as transformational figures by boards that want rising stars with big ideas for the next decade. 'There's a bias toward younger, future-fit leadership branding—even if Gen X has the real substance,' Burch says. The case for Xers Brian Buckalew has spent his entire, 34-year career at Majestic Steel USA, whose baby-boomer founder was succeeded as CEO by his millennial son. Buckalew, 56, has been a road warrior for decades, traveling from his home in Georgia to meet with customers. Though he has risen from sales assistant to vice president of strategic sales, he has sometimes felt overlooked. 'I struggled with it until recently,' he says. 'Why wasn't I chosen for this, or why wasn't I chosen for that?' He says Gen Xers are often viewed more as tacticians than visionaries. He notes Americans have never elected a Gen X president and doubts they ever will. Boomers have won eight of the past nine elections. (Joe Biden is part of the pre-baby boom silent generation.) And 2028 betting favorites mostly revolve around several millennials. Buckalew says he has come to appreciate having time for hobbies he might be forced to sacrifice if he climbed higher. It helps that he considers his millennial boss deserving of the post. Still, Buckalew, who grew up going home to an empty house after school, says Gen Xers' ability to figure things out on their own is underappreciated. The 'latchkey generation'—so nicknamed because its childhood coincided with a surge of women in the workforce—doesn't require hand-holding. This comfort working without guidance is arguably more valuable amid AI uncertainty than having been raised on the internet, says Megan Gerhardt, founder of Gentelligence, which advises companies on managing multigenerational teams. If AI is the biggest workplace disruption since the internet, then Gen Xers who survived the previous big shift can be a steadying presence now, she contends. 'It's this attitude of, 'Well, I figured that out, so I can figure this out too,' ' says Gerhardt, who is also a management professor at Miami University in Ohio and, yes, a Gen Xer. That sounds like a decent pitch for any would-be executive whose demographic reality bites. Write to Callum Borchers at
Mint
30-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
The Gen Xers who waited their turn to be CEO are getting passed over
When it comes to the C-suite, Gen X might be doomed to live up to its 'forgotten generation" moniker. More baby boomers are working past traditional retirement ages. By the time they are ready to pass the torch, millennials will be reaching for it. This is already happening at more companies. In the Russell 3000, 41.5% of chief executives are at least 60 years old, up from 35.1% in 2017. Over the same period, the share of CEOs in their 30s and 40s has grown to 15.1% from 13.8%, according to research by the Conference Board and ESGAUGE. That leaves Gen Xers, typically defined as those born between 1965 and 1980, with fewer chances to lead. People in their 50s held 51.1% of CEO seats eight years ago. Now they occupy 43.4%. Many Gen Xers say they operated on the belief that if they paid their dues, their time would come. But as they enter what is usually the prime, C-suite career stage, more businesses are retaining their aging leaders or skipping a generation in search of the next ones. 'We're starting to see a barbell phenomenon in the CEO role where Gen X is being squeezed in the middle," says Matteo Tonello, head of benchmarking and analytics at the Conference Board. Maybe it's fitting that workers dubbed 'slackers" in their youth would reach the top less often, though Tonello says companies don't necessarily lack faith in Gen Xers. Their predicament is largely a result of bad timing. Facing a pandemic, recession and supply-chain problems in recent years, companies prized boomers' experience. Now some are turning to millennials to navigate the advent of artificial intelligence. Gen Xers, especially those about to turn 60, might have missed their moment. The cruel thing is a lot of Xers don't realize they are headed for dead ends. 'A type of person I come across in my business all the time is the executive-in-waiting," says Shawn Cole, president of Cowen Partners Executive Search. 'They assume when their boss retires, they're going to get the seat. A lot of folks are going to be disappointed." The most vulnerable people are those sandwiched between leaders on the young side of the boomer cohort and hard-charging older millennials. Say you're a 55-year-old lieutenant with a protégé who is 44 and a CEO who is 63. If the boss hangs on for five more years, the board will be tempted to go with the younger option. One bright spot for Gen X executives whose windows are closing: Private-equity backed companies remain eager to hire them, says Bo Burch, CEO of Human Capital Solutions. A private-equity firm hoping to exit an investment in three to five years generally wants a veteran manager for a short stint. A 50-something often fits that bill. But in other settings, Gen Xers frequently get stuck in No. 2 roles. They have to fight to be seen as transformational figures by boards that want rising stars with big ideas for the next decade. 'There's a bias toward younger, future-fit leadership branding—even if Gen X has the real substance," Burch says. Brian Buckalew has spent his entire, 34-year career at Majestic Steel USA, whose baby-boomer founder was succeeded as CEO by his millennial son. Buckalew, 56, has been a road warrior for decades, traveling from his home in Georgia to meet with customers. Though he has risen from sales assistant to vice president of strategic sales, he has sometimes felt overlooked. 'I struggled with it until recently," he says. 'Why wasn't I chosen for this, or why wasn't I chosen for that?" He says Gen Xers are often viewed more as tacticians than visionaries. He notes Americans have never elected a Gen X president and doubts they ever will. Boomers have won eight of the past nine elections. (Joe Biden is part of the pre-baby boom silent generation.) And 2028 betting favorites mostly revolve around several millennials. Buckalew says he has come to appreciate having time for hobbies he might be forced to sacrifice if he climbed higher. It helps that he considers his millennial boss deserving of the post. Still, Buckalew, who grew up going home to an empty house after school, says Gen Xers' ability to figure things out on their own is underappreciated. The 'latchkey generation"—so nicknamed because its childhood coincided with a surge of women in the workforce—doesn't require hand-holding. This comfort working without guidance is arguably more valuable amid AI uncertainty than having been raised on the internet, says Megan Gerhardt, founder of Gentelligence, which advises companies on managing multigenerational teams. If AI is the biggest workplace disruption since the internet, then Gen Xers who survived the previous big shift can be a steadying presence now, she contends. 'It's this attitude of, 'Well, I figured that out, so I can figure this out too,' " says Gerhardt, who is also a management professor at Miami University in Ohio and, yes, a Gen Xer. That sounds like a decent pitch for any would-be executive whose demographic reality bites. Write to Callum Borchers at
Fashion Value Chain
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fashion Value Chain
Tonello Unveils Dual Innovations in Milan & Hangzhou
From May 21–23, Tonello will spotlight its latest breakthroughs at two global stages—Denim Première Vision Milan and Kingpins China, Hangzhou—highlighting its continued evolution in sustainable dyeing and garment finishing. In Milan, Tonello transforms its booth into a creative lab. Visitors can witness live dyeing sessions featuring the G1 Lab, the brand's most compact dyeing machine, and Wake technology, which uses plant-based waste like dried flowers and roots. The spotlight will also be on Sulfur Essence, a new dye collection exploring the artistic potential of sulfur and indigo through DyeMate, the industry's first indigo garment dyeing system that also works with sulfur and VAT dyes. Tonello's Fashion Designer Marco Visentin will take the Pitch Area stage on May 22 with 'Where Indigo Wanders'—a visual and conceptual exploration of the evolving aesthetics in sulfur and indigo dyeing. Simultaneously in Hangzhou, Tonello introduces a new generation of energy-efficient dryers at Kingpins China, emphasizing performance, streamlined processes, and sustainability. This is the latest advancement in Tonello's Laundry (R)Evolution. At the venue entrance, Tonello presents DENIM RENAISSANCE: The Beauty of Time, a collection that reflects the brand's commitment to fusing heritage craftsmanship with future-forward design. From Milan to Hangzhou, Tonello reaffirms its mission to lead the future of denim—uniting innovation, sustainability, and creativity across continents.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Deda Stealth CEO Explains Why Tariffs Made This Year the Right Time for U.S. Expansion
Deda Stealth wants in on the U.S. market. Tariffs are helping its game. The firm, which helps 70 percent of the Italian luxury market manage their supply chains, announced in March that it had acquired Competitoor, an AI-powered price comparison tool that allows brands to better understand their competitors' price strategies and adjust accordingly. More from Sourcing Journal Amazon's Latest AI Feature Allows Sellers to Upgrade Old Listings Maersk Cuts 2025 Container Outlook: China Capacity 'Not Available Elsewhere' White House Announces 'Breakthrough' UK Trade Deal With that acquisition Deda Stealth has also elected to move into a new market: the United States. Luca Tonello, Deda Stealth's CEO, said the company has already seen interest from some of its European clients in expanding their retail footprint in the states, a task he believes the company is up for supporting. But it will also look to onboard new customers, in part by leveraging Competitoor in a time when brands and retailers remain vigilant about their pricing plans because of tariffs, a pessimistic consumer and general economic uncertainty in the U.S. market. Tonello said those considerations made now the perfect time for Deda Stealth to expand its horizons with Competitoor. 'With the tariff war and the prices that are changing so quickly, it's really important to have the pricing monitoring of your price and the competitor's price…in order to have some fresh information and be reactive on what are the market values,' he said. Because Deda Stealth focuses on luxury clients, Tonello said he expects to see the most interest in its Competitoor offering from mid-level luxury players. 'High-end [luxury] doesn't care about the competitor's pricing, because they want to be the exclusive luxury enterprise,' he said. 'For the medium-sized company, you have to be reactive based on market, because selling in Korea is different than selling in the U.S., and you have the same brand, but in a different market…so the monitoring [has to] not only be specific on the price of your country, but also of your brand on the other country in order to decide a better pricing strategy.' Some of Deda Stealth's longer-standing products, including Stealth AI—formerly known as Planning Tool—which is an allocation and assortment-planning tool that leverages real-time data for decisioning, are also available to U.S. companies onboarding with Stealth. In 2022, Deda Stealth also acquired Bsamply, which connects raw material suppliers to fashion and apparel companies. Those tools, he said, remain an important piece of the company's expansion to New York; they allow Deda Stealth to provide AI-powered support to customers re-considering their inventory and allocation strategies. ` Tonello said for the Stealth AI and Bsamply products, he believes it will be most effective to begin by targeting companies that have an annual turnover of between $100 million and $2 billion. Those companies, he noted, are more likely to be operating on legacy technology that could benefit from an upgrade. Just as Deda Stealth has done in Italy, it will focus on high and mid-level luxury brands. 'We manage the inventory of the goods, wherever it is, from production up to the retail. And this is a value because having the stock inside one system makes you run some optimization regarding allocation, regarding retail planning and so on,' he explained. And, like Competitoor, Tonello sees Stealth AI benefitting U.S. luxury brands as they navigate tariffs; though President Donald Trump has paused his 'Liberation Day' tariffs on countries outside of China, it remains to be seen which countries will be slapped with high duty rates come the end of the pause. In Tonello's opinion, it's better than brands start 'Stealth AI will help people [with] minimizing the stock, maximizing the revenue, and especially now with the tariffs…if you have to restock, it's important that you take care of the tariff, and so you [need to] have the right tool that [can] make you simulations on how to move the good wherever in the world,' he noted. Tonello said he hopes to see 30 U.S. brands adopting the Competitoor system annually, and that he hopes to bring three to five clients onto the Deda Stealth system—which includes Stealth AI and Bsamply—in 2025. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
