This research addresses a simple question: what becomes of charismatic CEOsonce they have reached their apogee? Building on some neglected aspects of Max Webers analysis of charisma and the work done by Janice Beyer on charismatic leadership, this paper offers two contributions. First, it provides a theoretical introduction to the concept of charismatic routinization (i.e. the inevitable transformation of charisma in the long term) through the description of its determinants and its scenario. Second, it narrates the saga of the tumultuous 30-year career of a European CEO and uses it as an illustrative case study in order to emphasize the relevance of the Weberian concept to the study ofcharismatic CEOs in the long term. In so doing, it provides the first case study on charismatic routinization at the top.