Nancy McKinstry is retiring as chief executive of information provider Wolters Kluwer after 22 years on the job, the company announced on Wednesday.

McKinstry, 66, will be succeeded by Stacey Caywood, current head of Wolters Kluwer Health, who has been in that position since 2020. The handover will take place in February 2026.

Describing her retirement as “well-deserved,” supervisory board chief Ann Zieglar said McKinstry’s “visionary leadership and unwavering dedication have been instrumental in driving Wolters Kluwer’s success,” including a more than tenfold increase in the company’s market capitalisation during her time as CEO.

Under her leadership, Wolters Kluwer transformed from a publisher of academic and business books into a provider of data and analytics software. In 2003, when she took over the helm, the company’s shares were trading at €10. At Tuesday’s close, they were €172.

The only real controversy she faced during her tenure was her remuneration package, which made her the best-paid CEO of a Dutch listed company for years. Wolters Kluwer booked sales of €5.6 billion in 2023 and has a workforce of some 21,000.

News of McKinstry’s departure pushed Wolters Kluwer shares down 9% on the Amsterdam stock exchange in early trading. By 10 am, the shares were down 8.6%.

According to the Financieele Dagblad, investors have been shocked by news of her departure and see a close link between her leadership and the success of the company.