This dissertation aims to investigate the unconventional outcome of personalist succession in Kazakhstan. After an in-depth analysis of the 2019 Kazakh succession case, using process-tracing method, I present evidence that outgoing personalist dictators are not only aware of the political risks of succession, but they are possibly also learning from their peers’ experiences in orchestrating peaceful exits for themselves. This study adds to our existing knowledge of personalism’s risks for leadership successions and suggests new opportunities for future research.