Time to 'pass the baton': CIBC CEO's retirement leaves some analysts surprised

The chief executive of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is retiring in October after spending more than a decade in the top post.

Victor Dodig will be replaced by Harry Culham, who currently heads CIBC’s capital markets segment and will be the lender’s chief operating officer from April onwards. Dodig will act as a special adviser to Culham for an additional six months after leaving the post.

CEOs of Canadian banks tend to retire after a decade and Dodig is the second Big Six CEO to retire this year, following Toronto-Dominion Bank’s Bharat Masrani, who left his post in February. Royal Bank of Canada’s Dave McKay is the only other CEO in the group with more than 10 years of experience at the top spot.

CIBC has been performing well, with several quarters of strong results and improved profitability. Its share price reached an all-time high in December. His total pay increased to $13.6 million last year — second highest amongst the Big Six CEOs — from $11.2 million in 2023.

As such, some analysts expected him to remain in the top spot for a longer period.

“We are surprised at the announcement,” Darko Mihelic, an analyst at Royal Bank of Canada, said in a note on Thursday. “We thought Victor might remain as CEO a couple of years longer.”

Dodig, however, said that it was “an honour” to lead CIBC for the past decade.

“I am very proud of all that we have accomplished together and believe the time is right to hand the baton to Harry,” he said in a release on Thursday.

Dodig played a key role in transforming “CIBC into the modern, relationship-oriented bank it is today,” Kate Stevenson, chair of the bank’s board of directors, said in the release, adding he led the acquisition of Costco Wholesale Corp.’s Canadian credit