SEC Announces Departure of Chief Operating Officer Ken Johnson

Washington, D.C.–(Newsfile Corp. – September 24, 2025) – The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Ken Johnson, who has been serving as Chief Operating Officer (COO) since December 2017, will retire from the agency in December.

“Ken has been an integral leader at the SEC for more than two decades,” said Chairman Paul S. Atkins. “I have had the pleasure of knowing him both as a Commissioner and now as Chairman. He has served this agency and the country with ultimate integrity, furthering our mission with his adept oversight of SEC operations and administrative functions. I will certainly miss his wise counsel and wish him the very best in his next pursuits.”

As COO, Mr. Johnson has overseen the SEC’s operational and administrative functions, including the agency’s Office of Human Resources; Office of Acquisitions; Office of Financial Management; Office of Information Technology; EDGAR Business Office; Office of the Chief Data Officer; and Office of Support Operations, which includes the agency’s Freedom of Information Act, Records Management, and Facilities Management functions.

“I want to thank Chairman Atkins, the Commissioners, and so many friends and colleagues over the years,” said Mr. Johnson. “It has been the honor of a lifetime to work with the exceptional staff of the SEC. I also want to extend a special appreciation to the Commission’s operational and administrative professionals, who work skillfully behind the scenes to make sure the agency can continue its critical work on behalf of investors and our markets.”

In addition to his time serving as COO, Mr. Johnson served as the SEC’s chief financial officer from 2010 to 2017 and as a management analyst and chief management analyst between 2003 and 2010. Mr. Johnson came to the SEC in 2003 from the Congressional Budget Office.

Mr. Johnson received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and earned his master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.