By the time ONeal was done with Delphi as CEO, the company got about 18% of sales from its former parent, compared with roughly half in the early aughts. The CFO at pharma giant Eli Lilly stepped into the CEO role on an interim basis while his boss, John Lechleiter, was out on medical leave to deal with a dilated aorta. All courtesy of companies. Desmonds family lost their home when he was a kid; he brings a unique empathy to his inquiries about poverty, dignity and progress.Alternet, Architects of color weigh in on the unbearable whiteness of designThe 160th birthday of The American Institute of Architects seemed as good a time as any to do some soul-searching. As ine Cain of Business Insider previously reported, Ellison started his career as a part-time security guard at a Target in Memphis, earning $4.35 an hour. Qurate, the parent company of popular shopping brands including QVC, HSN, and Zulily, brought in $14 billion in revenue in 2021 and ranks at No. The pharmaceutical giant . Records show that there have only been a total of 18 Black CEOs leading Americas Fortune 500 companies since 1999. Just 24 Black CEOs have made the Fortune 500 list in its roughly 68-year history. Women have made gains in corporate America but they remain underrepresented. The first was Ursula Burns, who served as CEO of Xerox from 2009 until 2016, and as chairwoman from 2010 to 2017. All Rights Reserved. An unsafe neighborhood and lack of fresh food. His directorships include seats on the boards of Alphabet and General Mills, as well as the Smithsonian Institution. Stonecipher himself had returned to the company to replace a CEO who left in scandal amid ethical lapses. At the time, there had been fifteen Black CEOs in the history of theFortune500, with five still on the job. But theres still a sizable parity chasm. Mellody Hobson was appointed by Starbucks to head its Board, making her the only African-American woman to chair the board of a Fortune 500 company. He was appointed to the position in 2021. Burns led Xerox through a tumultuous period, starting with the $6.4 billion acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services in 2009 and ending with the 2016 separation of the business into two companies: document technology company Xerox Corp. and business process outsourcing company Conduent. Roz Brewer, CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, the highest-ranking Black-led company, is a prime example of the growth opportunities that are a byproduct of P&L roles. After seven more years at Boeing, he retired in 2012 and has since joined the boards of bellwether corporations like JPMorgan Chase in 2011, Apple in 2015, and Dow in 2019. He is the only Black person to be CEO of twoFortune500 companies, and he nearly didnt make it the first time. He also became managing director of venture capital firm General Catalyst last year and is a board member on the Council of Foreign Relations. This year, six Black chief executives sit atop Fortune 500 companies, making up just over 1% of businesses on the 2022 ranking. In the past, he served as President of Grainger Global Online, where he led the fastest growth, a stand-alone division of W.W. Grainger, Inc. David has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a JD from the University of South Carolina School of Law and is a graduate of The Citadel. Today, there are five Black CEOs in the Fortune 500. Black CEOs are all around us, if we would let them grow. He built his operational chops as president of Dardens former Smokey Bones restaurant unit in the two years before becoming CEO. The newest . Company: Lowe's, a retail home improvement store. Don't get me wrong: Black Americans are glad that finally after 400 years, there is mass . Hobson has served as the vice-president of the board, and her latest will take effect in March 2021. A short time after she left her role as Xerox CEO, I interviewed Ursula Burns forThe Black Ceiling, an inside look at the many reasons Black executive women are not making it to the C-Suite. Rice also serves on the boards of Target, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and the Walt Disney Co. Having just started as Boeing CFO a few months earlier, Bell stepped in to pinch-hit as interim CEO after Harry Stonecipher resigned in early 2005 over an affair with an underling. While that worked initially, turning Merrill into the top brokerage, it sowed the seeds of disaster later on. Age: 43. At Facebook, where Mark Zuckerberg faces criticism for allowing President Trump's incendiary posts to stay up, only 3.1% of senior . Brewer grew up in Detroit and attended Cass Technical High School and Spelman College, where she obtained her bachelors degree in chemistry. Matthew J. Meloy. To be sure, any increase in Black CEO representation is cause for celebration given the Fortune 500s predominantly white and male history. Alas, though he was named Fortunes most powerful black executive in America that year, his tenure did not end well; he was forced out five years later as Merrill Lynch began to implode. They include Marvin Ellison (Lowe's), Roger Ferguson (TIAA), and Rene Jones (M &. Overruling his CEO, Lampert focused on cost-cutting rather than on improving stores, even as Target and Walmart started to poach Sears lower-income shoppers. Parsons retired in 2008 and has had plenty to keep him busy. After Merrill, he never landed another C-suite job. In March 2017, Munoz was named "Communicator of the Year for 2017" by PRWeek. From 1984 to 1997, he was also an Associate and Partner at the prestigious consulting firm McKinsey. His A-list fans include Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway was American Expresss largest shareholder when Chenault retired; Buffett went on to name Chenault to the Berkshire board, replacing Bill Gates last year. If the answer is zero, then [they] need to work on that. Individuals in roles overseeing a companys finances, like CFOs and chief operating officers, are generally more likely to be given the nod for CEO placement. The executive pipeline then, is thin by blind spot and design. Thats not what gets you into the CEO job.. As much as leading aFortune 500is the holy grail for countless business school students, young Black entrepreneurs could be the ones building theFortune 500companies of tomorrow and beefing up the tally that way. In the United States, the situation is not much better - Fortune reported that there are currently only four Black CEOs at Fortune 500 companies, while the all-time high was six achieved. Black employees hold a disproportionate share of frontline jobs and encounter "broken rungs" on the corporate ladder, leading to a lack of Black leaders in organizations. She was also on ForbesWorlds 100 Most Powerful Womenlist this year. The 67th edition of Fortune 500 features Rosalind "Roz" Brewer, the CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Thasunda Brown Duckett, the CEO of TIAA. After reaching an all-time high of 32 in 2017, the number of female CEOs at Fortune 500 companies dropped by 25 percent in the past year. Dont P. has 7 jobs listed on their profile. In the history of theFortune500 list, first published in 1955, there have been only 19 Black CEOs out of 1,800 chiefs, says my colleague Phil Wahba inthis must-read-and-share piece. When the company was closed, her family relocated to Texas where her mom, Rosie, found a job as a teacher. Keep scrolling to learn about the three Black professionals currently at the top of the corporate ranks. This is what is happening to many black employees nowadays. After stepping down as CEO following the companys split in two, Burns stayed on for a short time as chairman of Xerox Corp. She followed up her Fortune 500 tenure with a stint as CEO and chair of the telecommunications business Veon. Before joining TIAA in 2008, the Harvard-educated lawyer had a long career in public service, notably helping coordinate the Federal Reserves response to 9/11. Business units at Time Warner, which had merged with America Online and experienced fractious relations, learned to work harmoniously with one another under Parsons. Men are dropping out of the labor force because theyre upset about their social status, according to a new study, Elon Musks Neuralink staff claim his demands to rush brain implant trials led to the needless deaths of 1,500 animals, Elon Musk is selling Twitter HQs espresso machines, Eames chairs, and sculptures in a giant auction, CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice. The company ranks at No. Terms & Conditions. Hyter says that companies should continuously ask themselves, Whats the percentage of people in the pipeline who have the potential to manage a billion-dollar business, and who ultimately could be in the queue for CEO consideration? That will leave only four Black CEOs on the Fortune 500: Brewer, Ken Frazier at Merck, Marvin Ellison at Lowe's, and Ren Jones at M&T Bank. The peak year for. 265 this year. He spent 15 years rising through the ranks, and moved to Home Depot in 2002, ultimately being promoted to executive vice president of US stores in 2008. An unresponsive health care system. At Merck, the Harvard Law Schooltrained Frazier has helped the drug giant refocus itself on research and development, particularly early stage research. And only three women on the list of Fortune 500 female CEOs are women of color, according to Fortune. We have called them "The New CEOs" to emphasize that they are not, like the old CEOs . In 2002, he moved to Home Depot, where made his way to head of U.S. stores. The Harvard Law grad and Rhodes Scholar had long bounced between public service and corporate life. "It goes beyond the numbers to provide insight into what's happening and why, adding . He previously held the CEO position with J.C. Penney and also worked at companies like The Home Depot and Target, according to his LinkedIn. That finance acumen has made him a sought-after director. While his team drew from state-level data and court records, he also chose to live in a trailer park and city apartments for months, to better understand the lives of families living in poverty and how evictions impacted their lives. The Center for Talent Innovation's "Being Black in Corporate America" report, released in late 2018, found that Black people account for only 3.2% of senior leadership roles at large corporations, and hold just 0.8% of Fortune 500 CEO positions. Roberts mother was running a daycare when he was an infant and so he was exposed to entrepreneurship from an early age. Lets look inward at the infrastructure of how talent is developed within our organizations as opposed to being perpetually frustrated that awesome people arent readily available, he says. Shes the epitome of experiences, additional responsibilities, and demonstrated value, Hyter says. TIAA, a Fortune 100 financial services. On May 1, TIAA welcomes Thasunda Brown Duckett, its first African American female CEO and the fourth Black woman CEO in a Fortune 500 company. 2022 Fortune Media IP Limited. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Most Fortune 500 CEOs, regardless of gender and ethnicity, were not automatically placed into those roles. I promise you, white people are not held to that same standard., Lowes CEO Marvin Ellison, formerly of J.C. Penney, appears on that short listtwice. In 2019, she was named one of Fortunes Most Powerful Women to Watch.. She was unflinching in her assessment of the problem. When Ken Frazier retires from . His dealmaking acumen landed him a role as senior adviser to private equity firm Providence Equity Partners, and he cofounded Imagination Capital, a venture capital firm. He is widely credited with having built one of the biggest loyalty programs in the world. However, since 2020, there have been six Black CEOs leading Fortune. She had been the first Black woman ever to run aFortune 500 company. Harry Potter fan ex-girlfriend, 28, of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried bragged she only needed 'elementary school math' to be CEO of his start up. Shes also the third Black woman ever to run a Fortune 500 company, followed by TIAAs Brown Duckett who kicked off her CEO tenure in March 2021, making her the fourth Black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company. Sign up for theFortune Features email list so you dont miss our biggest features, exclusive interviews, and investigations. That's four black leaders among the. But there was also widespread elation that a new Black CEO would be joining the ranks of those on the Fortune 500, and a woman no less, an all too rare occurrence. Lewis was tasked in late 2004 with retails mission impossible: making sure that the union of Kmart, which hed led for over a year at that point, and Sears revitalized both iconic but struggling retailers. Following his departure, there are now only three Black Fortune 500 Ceos: Marvin Ellison of. He has been at the company for nearly 30 years and will be replaced by the company's CFO, Robert Davis. However, since 2020, there have been six Black CEOs leading Fortune 500 companies. Monica SchipperGetty Images for Womens Forum of New York, Michael CohenGetty Images for The New York Times, would become CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance in mid-March, withdrew from former President Trumps American Manufacturing Council, found a group of CEOs from 37 major employers, left the company after its board opened an investigation, there was no direct evidence Raines had intended, CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice, Female founders under fire: Are women in the startup world being. Frank Clyburn, who in February was appointed CEO of International Flavors & Fragrances, is the third new entrant on the list. The ranking also marks the first time a Black founder has made the list in Fortune 500 history, and the second year the list has featured two Black womenWalgreens CEO Roz Brewer and TIAA chief executive Thasunda Brown Duckett. That's as far as it went, said Mabel O. Wilson on the eurocentrism of the profession. As of May 2022, there were two Black women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. His research focused on Milwaukee, a racially segregated city with a desperately high poverty rate. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Ellison holds the distinction of being the only Black CEO to helm two Fortune 500 companies, both retailers: the first, department store companyJ.C. Penney, the second, home improvement giant Lowes. FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. Year appointed: will assume position March 2021. There are no black CEOs among Fortune 500 tech companies. The announcement last week thatStarbuckschief operating officer Roz Brewerwould become CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance in mid-Marchwas met with enthusiasm on Wall Street because a massive company was getting a widely admired executive as its CEO. He was ousted that year, but his successor couldnt undo the damage, and Merrill was ultimately bought by Bank of America in 2009 during the financial crisis. Thompson undertook numerous efforts to try to revitalize the companyshaking up the management team, investing in digital endeavors, customization through a build your-own-burger platform, new marketing, and both simplifying and localizing the menu. Unless youre bringing people in from Mars, its going to be a while.. 322. Yet Jones says helping people make their way up large established companies is only part of the solution. I never saw anything about work by Black architects or architecture about black people unless it was traditional African architecture or the pyramids in Egypt. See the complete . which trains and recruits U.S.-based Black executives for corporate boards in African countries. Another metric that helps reveal the long-term patterns is the number of new Fortune 500 CEOs appointed each year (as opposed to the number who were in office in a given year). He sits on a number of boards, including that of Exxon Mobil. He started his retail career in loss prevention atTarget. It seems he and Ellison weren't the only pair getting cozy on the beanbags, with reports that the group were all dating each other. He slashed the companys debt with headline-grabbing moves, like selling the Warner Music division. Turns out, the pattern is a huge part of the problem: Everyones ideal short list for Black board talent is ridiculously out of touch. All Rights Reserved. At one time there were as many as 12 black CEOs in the Fortune 500, according to Ronald C. Parker, CEO of the Executive Leadership Council, an organization representing top black executives in the Fortune 500. And under Jones, M&T Bank has grown, while Ellisons tenure at Lowes has proved far more successful than his time atJ.C. Penney. Passed up for the companys CEO role in 2014, he left for J.C. Penney, making him the only Black executive to have held two CEO titles at Fortune 500 companies. But he has served on some boards and is currently a director at aluminum products maker Arconic. Despite the brevity of his CEO stint, Rice moved on to big roles at many of corporate Americas blue-chip companies: He left Lilly in 2018 to lead CVS Healths massive Caremark pharmacy benefits management unit, a job he left a year ago. Only 1% of the Fortune 500 CEOs are African Americans, 2.4% are East Asians or South Asians, and 3.4% are Latinx. Burns,in an episodelast fall of ourLeadership Nextpodcast (Apple/Spotify), toldFortuneCEO Alan Murray and me about her quest to advocate for top down change via herBoard Diversity Action Alliance, a no-nonsense plan to diversify corporate boards to better address the utter lack of progress in corporate diversity. However, the 500 corporations on this year's list generated $13.8 trillion in revenues, or some two-thirds of the U.S . A major source of the problem is that too few Black businesspeople are put on a management track early in their career, in which a promising executive is given oversight of a business with its own profit and loss (P&L) benchmarks, the measures by which superiors and the board assess whether someone is CEO material. As one of the senior black finance executives, Duckett is working to improve financial health and literacy for the 23 million households served by her organization. (One of Fergusons forebears, Clifton Wharton, was CEO from 1987 to 1993, but the company was not included on the Fortune 500 at the time, because the list was focused on industrial companies back then.). Listen to The Refresh, Insider's real-time news show. The first was Ursula Burns, who served as CEO of Xerox from 2009 until 2016, and as chairwoman from 2010 to 2017. While interim CEOs often land the job permanently, Bed Bath & Beyond ultimately poached Targets former chief merchant to be its new chief executive. There were a series of experiences, developmental moments, and opportunities for demonstration of capability that each of them had, Hyter says. And, as anyone who has been paying attention has repeatedly noted, nobody is coming. Thompson went on to found Chicago-based venture capital firm Cleveland Avenue, which specializes in food and beverage businesses, and sits on the boards of alternative meat startup Beyond Meat, financial services company Northern Trust, and Royal Caribbean Cruises. With the resignation of Tapestry CEO Jide Zeitlin in July 2020 and Merk CEO Kenneth Frazier in June 2021, the number of Black CEOs among the Fortune 500 dropped to a woeful four. Some key findings of the report: Blacks represent less than 1 percentage point (0.8 percent) of Fortune 500 CEOs. (Penney filed for bankruptcy protection last year and is a much smaller chain now.) Inadequate housing and education. Until the George Floyd killing and resulting nationwide unrest last year, Ren Jones was not a particularly outspoken CEO on social issues. What gives, Hollywood Foreign Press?NPR, How Roz Brewer gets it done Take a few minutes to enjoy this prescient deep-dive into Brewers brief but successful run at Starbucks. 2022 Fortune Media IP Limited. According to Fortune, Walmart ranked No. Ward is still active, partaking in Wall Streets investment structure du jour: blank check companies. But nearly two years later, theres still a glaring racial divide in the top echelons of the business world, though headway has been made. As Lechleiters right-hand man, Rice was crucial in helping Lilly revive sales at a tough time. Powered and implemented by Interactive Data Managed Solutions. Consider this: If the CEO makeup of the Fortune 500 was reflective of U.S. demographics, there would be more than 65 Black CEOs (13.5%) leading Americas largest public companies, compared to the current state of around 1.2%. But to really change things, we should revisit the premise of my first-ever corporate diversity story, and all the ones that came after: The path to the C-Suite starts from birth. When Frazier announced his retirement, there were only four Black CEOs among all the Fortune 500 companies. But at the end of March, the meager ranks of Black leaders atop Americas largest corporations will thin again after Roger Ferguson Jr., steps down as chief executive of pension fundTIAAafter almost 13 years. The all-time high was six in 2012. Between 2005 and 2011, Fortune 500 companies added eight new black CEOs. Not everyone ends up . Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. In addition to being four of the 46 women CEOs in the Fortune 500, they also spent a significant portion of their careers at food and beverage conglomerate PepsiCo, where they honed the . Oh, hang on breaking news Merck CEO Ken Frazier just announced that he will bestepping down at the end of June. Most of these exits are due to high losses in the stock market and a recession on the way, with Fortune 500 companies collectively losing 18% . Why, after so many years of awareness of this problem, is that number still so stubbornly low? She only held the position until November of that year, when she was replaced by Mark Tritton, a white man. Prior to her appointment, Brewer served as the chief operating officer at Starbucks. As a sought-after ex-CEO, Williamss firm, RW2 Enterprises, advises C-suite leaders on strategy development and how to get employees on board with where a CEO is heading. Board chairs routinely ask her for a list of Black folks who have already run aFortune500 company or similar. As of 2019, Black executives held only 10% of senior P&L roles in the Fortune 500. (Roz Brewer becomes the third on March 15 when she takes the reins at Walgreens Boots Alliance.) In the history of the Fortune 500 list, there have only been 19 Black CEOs out of 1,800 chiefs. CEO Tenure: 2 . He grew up in tiny Brownsville, Tenn., in poverty, as one of seven children. All rights reserved. [1] [2] As of Dec 7, 2022, women were CEOs at 9.4 percent of Fortune 500 companies. M&T has moved further in that direction by shifting more of its college recruitment to historically black colleges and universities. With two Black women running Fortune companies out of 41 women executives in 2021, they represent 4% of female Fortune 500 CEOs. But the chief of Buffalo-based M&T Bank has become vocal about the need for large employers like his to diversify the pool of job candidates. He joined AmEx in 1981, working in strategic planning and making his way up the ranks. And his approach worked. Bells stint as CEO was short-lived by design, and he continued to have a stellar career. The Fortune 500 gets its third-ever Black female CEO February 26, 2021 By Claire Zillman and Emma Hinchliffe Retail There are now just 4 Black CEOs in the Fortune 500 as Tapestry boss. Robert Reffkin is the co-founder of the online multibillion-dollar real estate company Compass, Inc. and serves as the companys CEO. She previously served as CEO of Sams Club and COO at Starbucks before joining Walgreens in 2021. In the same period, there have only been four Black women Fortune 500 CEOs. It was a similarly dispiriting moment. The first thing you overcome is the gender bias, and then the racial questions come.Curbed, It's so unfortunate that Michaela Coel was snubbed, but at least we can still congratulate Black royalty: Regina King. Since 2000, there have been 151 white women and people of color appointed CEOs at Fortune 500 companies. He later steered TIAA through the 200809 financial crisis. When Ken Frazier retires from Merck next month, there will be four. Robert Reffkin founded the real estate platform Compass in 2012. Qurate Retail CEO David Rawlinson is another newcomer to the Black Fortune 500 executive cabal, joining the company in July 2021. IFF narrowly missed making the Fortune 500 ranking last year, placing 522nd. are generally more likely to be given the nod, Passed up for the companys CEO role in 2014, Men are dropping out of the labor force because theyre upset about their social status, according to a new study, Elon Musks Neuralink staff claim his demands to rush brain implant trials led to the needless deaths of 1,500 animals, Elon Musk is selling Twitter HQs espresso machines, Eames chairs, and sculptures in a giant auction, CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice. We too often look to theFortune 500largest companies when, in fact, its logical that the next leaders today sit outside theFortune 500, says Jones, whos headed M&T, a Buffalo-based bank, for three years. Thats like a list of 25 people, Burns says, which utterly ignores the remarkable talent that exists in a wide variety of positions and industries. Records show that there have only been a total of 18 Black CEOs leading America's Fortune 500 companies since 1999. Winston, an executive with extensive finance and accounting experience, was only the second Black woman to ever land on the Fortune 500 as CEO, doing so on an interim basis two years ago at Bed Bath & Beyond. Rosalind Roz Brewer is the CEO ofWalgreens. The Harvard MBA had a compelling personal background too: As a new graduate in the 1980s, he worked in apartheid South Africa to help labor groups assist black miners and witnessed firsthand how black aspirations were crushed systematically. Black CEOs have had to overcome significant barriers to reach the C-suite. Before Brewer, only two Black women have ever led a Fortune 500 company. All Rights Reserved. To help pay for books and rent in college, he took a part-time job as a security officer at Target, a gig that turned into 15 years, as he climbed the ranks in theft prevention. That will leave only four Black CEOs on the Fortune 500: Brewer, Ken Frazier atMerck, Marvin Ellison atLowes, and Ren Jones at M&T Bank. That's four black leaders among the. He has built a highly successful post-CEO career: On top of being chairman of the Conference Boards board of trustees, he is on the boards of American Express, Boeing, and Johnson & Johnson. Over the complete history of the Fortune 500, which dates back to 1999, there have only been a total of 18 Black CEOs leading America's Fortune 500 companies. The study also foundan overall lack of mentorship and access to senior leaders. Kenneth Fraizer, CEO of the pharmaceutical company Merck & Co.. That means there are now only three Black CEOs in the Fortune 500. But he was ousted and stripped of a bonus the following year because of an ethics violation that also cost him his seat on the JPMorgan board. 495. Munoz has been named among the "100 Most Influential Hispanics" by Hispanic Business magazine. As CEO he is making workforce diversity a bigger priority. Today, there are five Black CEOs in the Fortune 500. Otis is one of only four black CEOs of a Fortune 500 company. Black women tend to get shuntedaway frompositions of real impact and end up in career cul-de-sacs that eliminate them from consideration. More worrisome, observers and executives agree, is that there is no quick fix, given the years it takes to groom someone for the C-suite. View Dont P. Shannon, FASAE, CAE'S profile on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional community. Im always appreciative of increases because directionally its the right answer, but Im also mindful that the overall numbers are still significantly low, says Michael Hyter, president and CEO of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC), an organization that works to build a C-suite pipeline for Black executives. Diversity Among Fortune 500 CEOs from 2000 to 2020: White Women, Hi-Tech South Asians, . Hobson first joined the board in 2005 and was appointed vice-chair in 2018. Powered and implemented by Interactive Data Managed Solutions. Why the decline in recent years? They also shared a therapist. That list includes: . This year's Fortune 500 list was a record-breaking affair for female CEOs, with 41 woman-run companies making the cut. Data show that there are a growing number of Black entrepreneurs and business leaders currently than in the past. Thats a noteworthy increase from last year, when only five Black CEOs ran Fortune 500 companies. Her predecessor had been ousted abruptly as the struggling home goods retailer faced an activist investor pushing for a major overhaul. Women still only make up 8.2% of Fortune 500 CEOs, with women of color making up 1.2%, CBS News reported. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice| Do Not Sell My Personal Information| Ad Choices In fact, the percentage of sitting CEOs coming directly from a CFO chair has reached an all-time high. How many Black women CEOs are there? She previously served as a director of JPMorgan Chase and previously served as Board chair of Este Lauder Companies and DreamWorks Animation. If those graduates had a steady rate of advancement, one would expect there to be 50 black Fortune 500 CEOs. Moreover, not a single black woman helms a Fortune 500 or S&P 500 corporation on. With TIAA CEO Roger Ferguson Jr. stepping down at the end of March, that brings the total number of BlackFortune500 CEOs to four: Brewer, Ken Frazier atMerck, Marvin Ellison atLowes and Ren Jones atM&T Bank. It takes 22 years to grow an entry level employee, and a lot goes wrong for people along the way. Just four black CEOs run Fortune 500 companies in America, and they are speaking out about racial inequality following the death of George Floyd . Take anexecutive like Lowes CEO Marvin Ellison, who previously ledJ.C. Penney,making him the only Black CEO to lead two differentFortune 500companies. Raines kept a lower professional profile after his departure, though he has stayed active as a venture capitalist and is on the board of regents of the Smithsonian Institution. But the period ended up being a historically abysmal time for McDonalds. To transform Merrill Lynch from a stodgy brokerage into a fast-growing company, he got the firm to embrace riskier activities such as outsize exposure to subprime mortgage assets and to de-emphasize its bread-and-butter stocks and bonds trading, eschewing the companys Mother Merrill culture, so-called because of the firms quasi-parental, nurturing approach with clients and job security for staff. The picture gets grimmer if you take out interim CEOs or any chief who spent less than a year in the corner office: only 15 chief executives, a paltry figure when you consider Black people make up one-eighth of the U.S. population. In 2014, for the first time since 2002, the company reported a global decline in sales at outlets open for at least a year. In the wake of racial protests following the murder of George Floyd, companies pledged to increase diversity within their executive ranks and accelerate change internally. Parsons, who had spent 16 years as a director at Citi through 2012, including four as chairman, sits on the boards of investment bank Lazard and Madison Square Garden. She also serves as Chairman of the Board of the companys publicly traded mutual funds. Under-resourced parents with no access to credit markets in dead-end, soon-to-be-replaced-by-automation jobs. This is not a complaint; it's a reality. He has been at the company for nearly 30 years and will be replaced by the company's CFO, Robert Davis. Below, we've tabulated the 10 youngest Fortune 500 CEOs, based on data from their companies and from S&P Global Market Intelligence, as of May 19. Besides serving on the board of Starbucks, she is also the co-CEO of Ariel Investments, a global value-based asset management firm. He joined Home Depot as executive vice president of stores in 2002, a role with P&L responsibilities. In 2018, Duckett was named one of the most powerful women in banking by American Banker magazine. Still, Ward rebounded, going on to a high-profile role: A year after his exit from Maytag, he was named chief executive of the U.S. Olympic Committee as it scrambled to get ready for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games. But after merging with DuPonts Nutrition & Biosciences in February 2021, and bringing in $11.6 billion in revenue, it now ranks at No. But despite decades of work on diversity in corporate America, progress has been. Three new Black entrants are featured on the 2022 Fortune 500. But atHome Depot, where he spent many years, he jumped to store management, giving him a P&L by which to measure him as he rose up. Before Maytag, he had been a senior executive at big consumer companies such as PepsiCos Frito Lay division and Procter & Gamble. Earlier in his career, Harvard Law School alumnus Chenault worked at Bain & Co., where he was mentored by Mitt Romney. 2022 Fortune Media IP Limited. In 2022, only six companies on the Fortune 500 list had a Black CEO. Frank Clyburn is the CEO of International Flavors and Fragrances in February of 2022. Jones, the son of a Black World War II vet and the woman he met in Europe, has been at M&T since 1992 and was named CEO three years ago. To solve it, we have to think beyond central casting as we develop Black executive potential early and often. Brian Cornell is one of PepsiCo's most successful alumni as the . He continued his education at Columbia Business School where he earned his MBA. That just doesnt happen to the same degree with Black executives in the pipeline.. The Chicago-reared son of a bus driver and a manicurist told Fortune in 2019 that he was the least likely person ever to lead a $34 billion corporation.. Just four black CEOs run Fortune 500 companies in America, and they are speaking out about racial inequality following the death of George Floyd . Ed Gordon talks with Clarence Otis, Jr., CEO of the Darden Corp., which owns restaurants including Red Lobster and the Olive Garden. Her dad, Otis Brown, worked for Xerox in New Jersey as a truck driver. He held that position until he became the CEO of JC Penney in 2015. Powered and implemented by Interactive Data Managed Solutions. "With blacks making up 10 percent of college graduates, you would think there. By 2007, Merrill had dealt with an exodus of top staff who didnt care for the new culture, and the company had to write down $8 billion worth of assets during the subprime mortgage crisis. Before becoming CEO, selected by his predecessor, Harvey Golub, Chenault had been operations chief. Laguarta, PepsiCo's current CEO, is a 26-year company veteran and has worked in the U.S., Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa. Right now, a future CEOor doctor, engineer, filmmaker, Nobel Prize winner, journalist, supply chain genius, or fill-in-the-blankis about to be lost in a human pipeline that has been invisibly leaking for generations. He joined Qurate Retail from NielsenIQ, where he served as CEO and led the company through a transition to new ownership. Thompson asked for more time to turn the company around, but in January 2015 McDonalds announced he was stepping down after two and a half years at the helm. Published in April. In 2015, Munoz was one of two Hispanic CEOs in the top 100 of the Fortune 500 list. S&P Index data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. In 1991, he went to work for Fannie Mae. Not everyone ends up in the C-suite, of course, but the formal structure has made it easier to identify and nurture female As president at Penney, Ellison was groomed to fill the CEO role the following year. There are a lot of people of color in support roles [accounting, marketing]lots. But in the last two years of his stint, he was unable to quell market share losses as consumers started flocking to cheaper options such as Panera and Chipotle. Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, during the Institute of International Finance (IIF) annual membership meeting in Washington, D.C., October 2022. S&P Index data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. 43% of PepsiCo managers are female. When their overall numbers peaked (at seven , in 2007), their representation was still minuscule, representing fewer than 2 percent of all Fortune 500 CEOs, but at the very least, during the 2000s, the direction of the trendline was up. The all-time high . The tracks that lead to the CEO jobs are primarily P&Ls, says Michael Hyter,chief diversity officerat consulting firm Korn Ferry. Terms & Conditions. 10. The annual list of the 500 largest American companies by total revenue features two Black female CEO's on the same list for the first time ever, according to ABC News. The peak year for. A CPA by training, Jones is also ramping up efforts to hire more from Buffalos local talent pool. Once he took the reins, he made big moves to repair the severely damaged retailer. He was passed over in 2014 when Home Depot changed CEOs, and he went to Penney. Lauren Hobart, Beth Ford and Mary Dillonthree alumnae of PepsiCo who became Fortune 500 CEOs. Raines became the first Black CEO of a Fortune 500 company in 1999, but unfortunately his history-making tenure ended in turmoil. Ellen McGirt@ellmcgirtEllen.McGirt@fortune.com, How the Golden Globes missed (some of the) mark While there was some good news in the recent nominee listthree women were nominated for best director, Nomadland director Chloe Zhao, One Night in Miami's Regina King and Promising Young Woman's Emerald Fennellthe missed opportunities seem to outweigh the victories. This means offering Black employees high-value and high-visibility assignments, providing them with sponsorship opportunities, and being deliberate and transparent about goals and performance metrics. Best Universities collected information on the schools that the top 10 women Fortune 500 CEOs attended, using company websites, news coverage, and LinkedIn. Before Starbucks, she was the president and CEO of Sam's Club. These nine CEOs include well-established. In Summer of 2022, 8.8% of CEOs are women and today women are 9% of CEOs in the Fortune 500. His decades-long career at Merck has included time as its general counsel, during which he robustly defended the company against litigation stemming from the recall of painkiller Vioxx. Rosalind Brewer, CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, runs the 18th-largest. He had reached the corner office of a restaurant operator with an unconventional background. What do Though not an especially political person, Frazier made headlines in 2017 when he abruptly withdrew from former President Trumps American Manufacturing Council after the latter made comments about a deadly white power march in Charlottesville, Va., seen as sympathetic to white nationalists. Clifton Wharton became the first Black CEO ever of a major U.S. corporation when he took the reins of TIAA in 1987, but at the time, the company was included on a service companies list, separate from the mainFortune 500list despite its large size. TIAA, the financial services giant that manages $1.2 trillion in assets, has the distinction of being the only large U.S. corporation to have twice been led by a Black CEO. Otis sold off Red Lobster and started cost-cutting, but ultimately that did not mollify the activists, and Otis stepped down in 2014. Curbed asked sixteen architects at various stages of their careers to talk candidly about the race-related challenges theyve faced over their careers. That number is "disheartening," Hyter says, noting that the root cause isn't a lack of talent, but a lack. Thasunda Brown Duckett leads the Fortune 500 company Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA). Just as Thompsons tenure began, cracks started to appear in the companys performance as it faced fierce competition, a restaurant industry that was stagnant overall, and a struggling lower-income consumer. The allegations dogged him for years after he left the mortgage finance company, but in 2012, a class action suit against him was dismissed after a judge determined there was no direct evidence Raines had intended to deceive investors. Photos- Twitter . In one of his biggest tests as CEO, Chenault led his company out of the crisis that followed 9/11: American Express had thousands of workers in the towers next to the World Trade Center. 300 Most Powerful Black CEO, COO, and Other Executives in America Career The 300 Most Powerful Black CEO, COO, and Other Executive Positions in America Derek T. Dingle December 6, 2017 26011. Chenault (who was only the third black CEO to run a Fortune 500 company) was eventually joined by Don Thompson at McDonald's, Ursula Burns at Xerox, Roger Ferguson at TIAA-CREF, Kenneth Frazier . The other is Thasunda Brown Duckett of the Teachers, Insurance, and Annuity Association (TIAA), a nonprofit financial services. HR isnt going to get you there, she says. When she left in 2017, there were none. Duckett, known by her friends and colleagues as T, is one of JP Morgan Chases visible and accessible executives. Otis led the owner of Olive Garden, Capital Grille and LongHorn Steakhouse for nearly a decade, which was marked by fast growth for the most part. The hardware chain brought in $96 billion in revenue in 2021 and comes in at No. Offers may be subject to change without notice. It was during this critical period that Brewer entered the fold, tasked with translating her retail expertise into cleaning up the companys stores and imposing a level of discipline that has become her calling card, writes Fortunes Beth Kowitt of the former Walmart executive.Fortune, What it means to be evicted While we continue the tortured debate over why and how to help renters economically derailed by the pandemic, its worth looking into the history of how losing a home destroys the prospects of the financially vulnerable. Even though Ron Williams left Aetna more than a decade ago, his impact on the health care industry can still be felt: As CEO, he played a critical role in shaping former President Barack Obamas Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Robert attended Columbia University beginning in 1997, where he graduated with dual degrees in history and economics-philosophy in just two years. . Just before she retired, Deanna was one of only 37 female Fortune 500 CEOsa practiced expert in inclusive leadership, with a perspective that's made a mark. The finance executive is a powerhouse in the business environment in America. She also has honorary doctorate degrees from Howard University, St. Marys College, University of Southern California and Johns Hopkins University. The insurance firm brought in $40.5 billion in revenue in 2021, placing it at No. She makes regular media and television appearances for the bank. In North Texas, they started over in an apartment using crates as makeshift furniture. Hobson in 2015 was named to Time Magazines annual list of the one hundred most influential people in the world. Today, as we wade into the grim truth-telling that is Black History Month, we are facing the same question. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider Brewer is one of just two Black women CEOs in the Fortune 500. Beth Kowitt and Emma Hinchliffe contributed to this project. Offers may be subject to change without notice. When CBS was embroiled in a crisis in 2018 that forced Les Moonves out as CEO amid allegations of sexual harassment and assault, Parsons was brought in to steady the company. Currently, there are four black Fortune 500 CEOs versus seven less than a decade ago, he maintains. In 2018, he became CEO of Lowe's. This years share of Black chief executives marks the return of a record high six Black Fortune 500 CEOs, only previously seen in 2012. 1 ] [ 2 ] as of 2019, she says from Howard University, St. Marys College, of... 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