Brian Cornell | |
---|---|
Born | 1958 (age 65–66) New York City, U.S. |
Education |
University of California, Los Angeles (BA) UCLA Anderson School of Management |
Title | Chairman and CEO, Target |
Term | 2014– |
Predecessor | Gregg Steinhafel |
Spouse | Martha Cornell |
Children | 2 |
Brian C. Cornell (born c. 1958) is an American businessman, and the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Target Corporation. He is also non-executive chairman of Yum! Brands.
Brian Cornell was born in 1958 in Queens, New York City. He grew up in a fatherless household from the age of six, and his mother was living on welfare due to heart disease. [1] As a result, Cornell was mostly brought up by his maternal grandparents. [1]
Cornell graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1981. [2] [3] Cornell attended the UCLA Anderson School of Management, attending in 1991. [2] [3]
Cornell was the chief marketing officer and an executive vice president of Safeway Inc., from 2004 to 2007. [3] [4]
Cornell was the CEO of Michaels from 2007 to 2009, CEO of Sam's Club from 2009 to 2012, [1] and CEO of PepsiCo Americas Foods, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, from 2012 to 2014. [3] [4]
Cornell was on the board of directors of OfficeMax, from 2004 to 2007, and of The Home Depot, from 2008 to 2009. [3] Cornell has been on the board of Centerplate and Polaris Industries. [5] [3] Cornell has been on the board of directors of Yum! Brands since September 2015. [6] He is the chairman of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, and a board member since 2015. [7] [8]
In August 2014, Cornell replaced Gregg Steinhafel as the chairman and CEO of Target. [4] Cornell's leadership style is at once data-driven and hands-on. [1] During his tenure, Cornell has shut down the loss-incurring Target Canada. [1] Cornell has hired many outsiders to update the corporate culture. [1] Cornell occasionally visits Target stores and asks guests about their shopping experiences. [1] As CEO, Cornell has been praised by outlets such as CNN, describing him as Target's "ace CEO" and crediting him with the business' strong growth in the 2010s. [9] In 2019, Cornell was named CNN's "Business CEO of the Year". [10]
Cornell was honored with "The Visionary" award by the National Retail Federation for 2022, given each year to "an outstanding retail industry leader". [11]
Cornell is on the board of visitors [12] of the UCLA Anderson School of Management. [2] He is on the board of directors for Catalyst [13] and the museum council for the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. [14]
He is married to Martha Cornell. They have a daughter and a son. [15]