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 was the chief marketing officer and an executive vice president of Safeway Inc., from 2004 to 2007.[3][4] He 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] During his tenure, Cornell shut down the loss-incurring Target Canada.[1] Cornell occasionally visits Target stores and asks guests about their shopping experiences.[1] As CEO, Cornell has been featured by news outlets such as CNN, which described 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]
In 2023, Cornell's total compensation at Target was $18.1 million.[12] He earned a higher annual bonus due to the company's improved profits, although his overall compensation dropped.[13]
