Brian Cornell

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 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 served 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]

In 2019, Cornell was named CNN's "Business CEO of The Year".[9]

Cornell received "The Visionary" award from the National Retail Federation for 2022, given each year to "an outstanding retail industry leader".[10]

Cornell is on the board of visitors[11] of the UCLA Anderson School of Management.[2] He is on the board of directors for Catalyst[12] and the museum council for the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.[13]

He is married to Martha Cornell. They have a daughter and a son.[14]