Deloitte CEO Cathy Engelbert not nominated for second term

Deloitte CEO Cathy Engelbert hasn’t been nominated for a second four-year term -- though it is too early in the process to say that she won't be able to serve again, according to the Big Four firm.

An email sent to partners at the firm informed them Engelbert hadn’t been renominated by the board, according to The Wall Street Journal. Engelbert was elected in 2015 to lead the firm, making her the first female CEO of a Big Four firm in the U.S. Since then, Lynne Doughtie was named chair and CEO of KPMG later that year, and more recently Kelly Grier was named chair and managing partner by Ernst & Young, starting in July.

Engelbert may still receive a second term at the firm from the partners, even though she hasn’t been renominated by the board. “Our partnership has a longstanding succession process that is conducted every four years,” said a statement forwarded by Deloitte spokesperson Jonathan Gandal. “We are in the early, board-nominating committee stage of that process, which will include input from our partners, principals and managing directors and culminate with a formal leadership election in early 2019. We will provide an update at that time.”

Engelbert previously led the firm's U.S. audit practice. She also chairs the Center for Audit Quality's Governing Board, and is chair of Catalyst, and a vice chair of the Partnership for New York City.