Brian
Cornell
Board Chairman and CEO
Target Corp.
Brian Cornell heads the dynamic global team behind Target, a leading omnichannel growth company in American retail, with nearly 2,000 stores covering all 50 states. Together, Target’s purpose-driven team of more than 400,000 helps all families discover the joy of everyday life.
Brian joined Target in 2014 and quickly established a strategic direction that built on the company’s strengths as a multicategory mass merchandiser – making enormous investments in digital, data and supply chain capabilities, and placing the company’s fleet of popular stores at the center both of physical shopping and digital fulfillment. At the same time, Brian spearheaded vast investments in wages, benefits, team training and development, diverse and equitable representation, and a corporate culture that helps all team members care, grow and win together.
Brian was named the 2022 “Visionary” by NRF. In recent years, Yahoo Finance named Target the Company of the Year, and CNN named Brian the Top CEO of the Year. Target was also named Retailer of the Year by Mass Market Retailer and is currently ranked second on Fortune’s Best Big Companies to Work For.
Prior to joining Target, Brian spent more than 30 years in escalating leadership positions at leading retail and consumer-product companies. Roles included Chief Marketing Officer at Safeway Inc. and CEO at Michaels, Sam’s Club and PepsiCo Americas Foods.
Brian currently serves on NRF’s executive committee and on The Business Council. He is the non-executive chairman of the board for Yum! Brands, and previously served as chairman of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and as a director for The Home Depot and Polaris Industries. A career-long advocate of diversity and inclusion, Brian is a board member for Catalyst and served on the Council for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Brian joined Target in 2014 and quickly established a strategic direction that built on the company’s strengths as a multicategory mass merchandiser – making enormous investments in digital, data and supply chain capabilities, and placing the company’s fleet of popular stores at the center both of physical shopping and digital fulfillment. At the same time, Brian spearheaded vast investments in wages, benefits, team training and development, diverse and equitable representation, and a corporate culture that helps all team members care, grow and win together.
Brian was named the 2022 “Visionary” by NRF. In recent years, Yahoo Finance named Target the Company of the Year, and CNN named Brian the Top CEO of the Year. Target was also named Retailer of the Year by Mass Market Retailer and is currently ranked second on Fortune’s Best Big Companies to Work For.
Prior to joining Target, Brian spent more than 30 years in escalating leadership positions at leading retail and consumer-product companies. Roles included Chief Marketing Officer at Safeway Inc. and CEO at Michaels, Sam’s Club and PepsiCo Americas Foods.
Brian currently serves on NRF’s executive committee and on The Business Council. He is the non-executive chairman of the board for Yum! Brands, and previously served as chairman of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and as a director for The Home Depot and Polaris Industries. A career-long advocate of diversity and inclusion, Brian is a board member for Catalyst and served on the Council for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.