Brian C. Cornell (born 1959) is an American businessman who is the chairman and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO) of

Target Corporation Target Corporation is an American retail corporation that operates a chain of discount department stores and hypermarkets, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh-largest retailer in the United States, and a component of th ...

. He is also non-executive chairman of

Yum! Brands Yum! Brands, Inc. (sometimes called simply Yum!) is an American multinational fast food corporation. It is a spin-off of PepsiCo, after they acquired KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. PepsiCo divested the brands in 1997, and these consolidated as ...

Early life

Brian Cornell was born in 1959 in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, 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 Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

. As a result, Cornell was mostly brought up by his maternal grandparents. Cornell graduated from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA) in 1981. Cornell attended the

UCLA Anderson School of Management The John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management (branded as UCLA Anderson) is the graduate business school at the University of California, Los Angeles. The school offers MBA (full-time, part-time, executive), Post Graduate Program for Executi ...

in 1991.

Career

Cornell was the chief marketing officer and an executive vice president of

Safeway Inc. Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

, from 2004 to 2007. He was the CEO of

Michaels Michaels Stores, Inc., doing business as Michaels, is an American privately held arts and crafts retail chain. It is North America's largest provider of arts, crafts, framing, floral and wall décor, and merchandise for makers and do-it-yourse ...

from 2007 to 2009, CEO of

Sam's Club Sam's West, Inc. (doing business as Sam's Club) is a chain of membership-only warehouse club retail stores in the United States owned by Walmart. It was founded in 1983 and named after Walmart founder Sam Walton as Sam's Wholesale Club. , Sam's ...

from 2009 to 2012, and CEO of PepsiCo Americas Foods, a subsidiary of

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the f ...

, from 2012 to 2014. Cornell was on the board of directors of

OfficeMax OfficeMax is an American office supplies retailer founded in 1988. As an independent chain, it was the third-largest office supply retailer in the United States. Following a 2013 merger, it is currently a brand and subsidiary of Office Depot. ...

, from 2004 to 2007, and of

The Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., often referred to as Home Depot, is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportat ...

, from 2008 to 2009. Cornell has been on the board of Centerplate and

Polaris Industries Polaris Inc. is an American automotive manufacturer headquartered in Medina, Minnesota, United States. Polaris was founded in Roseau, Minnesota, where it still has engineering and manufacturing facilities. The company manufactured motorcycles th ...

. Cornell has been on the board of directors of

since September 2015. He is the chairman of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, and a board member since 2015. In August 2014, Cornell replaced Gregg Steinhafel as the chairman and CEO of Target. During his tenure, Cornell shut down the loss-incurring

Target Canada Target Canada Co. was a short-lived Canadian subsidiary of the Target Corporation, the eighth-largest retailer in the United States. Formerly headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, the subsidiary formed with the acquisition of Zellers store lea ...

. Cornell occasionally visits Target stores and asks guests about their shopping experiences. As CEO, Cornell has been featured by news outlets such as

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

, which described him as Target's "ace CEO" and crediting him with the business' strong growth in the 2010s. In 2019, Cornell was named CNN's "Business CEO of the Year". In 2021, Cornell publicly stated his commitment to programs at Target to support

diversity, equity and inclusion In the United States, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are organizational frameworks that seek to promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people, particularly groups who have historically been underrepresented or subject ...

following the murder of

George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd had used a counterfeit tw ...

by police in Minneapolis. He said "I recognize that it's time to take it to another level, and that as CEOs, we have to be the company's head of diversity and inclusion." Cornell was honored with "The Visionary" award by the

National Retail Federation The National Retail Federation (NRF) is the world's largest retail trade association. Its members include department stores, catalog, Internet, and independent retailers, restaurants, grocery stores, multi-level marketing companies and vendors. ...

for 2022, given each year to "an outstanding retail industry leader." In 2022, Target announced that their board of directors had eliminated the company's mandatory retirement policy that would have forced the CEO to retire at age 65. In 2023, Cornell's total compensation at Target was $18.1 million. He earned a higher annual bonus due to the company's improved profits, although his overall compensation dropped. In 2024, Cornell's total compensation at Target was $9.9 million, which was 45% lower than his 2023 compensation and 87% lower than his 2020 compensation of $77.5 million.

Memberships and affiliations

Cornell is on the board of advisors of the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He is on the board of directors for

Catalyst Catalysis () is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quick ...

and previously was a member on the museum council for the Smithsonian's

National Museum of African American History and Culture The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), colloquially known as the Blacksonian, is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in 2003 an ...

. Cornell is also a member of

The Business Council The Business Council is a nonpartisan organization of business leaders headquartered in Washington, D.C.Sarasota Memorial Hospital Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH) is a publicly owned 901-bed health care facility located in Sarasota, Florida. It was founded in 1925. The health care facility is a level II trauma center and the flagship facility of the Sarasota Memorial Health ...

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornell, Brian 1959 births Living people Businesspeople from Queens, New York University of California, Los Angeles alumni American retail chief executives American chairpersons of corporations Target Corporation people UCLA Anderson School of Management alumni