The Most Powerful African Americans in Co Rpo Rate a Merica
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The Most Powerful African Americans In Cor p o r ate Am e r i c a Meet 75 exec u t i v es who hold tremendous clout in the world of business, including the 18 who earned CEO positions By Kenneth Meeks —Additional reporting by Patrice D. Johnson, Carolyn M. Brown, Nkechi I. Olisemeka, Jamila Farwell, Hyacinth Carbon & Tykisha Lundy CONSIDER THEM THE CO R P O R AT E CEO Richard D. Parsons have produced ample shareholder value EL I T E — an excl u s i v e club of high-powere d and revenue growth in the face of brutal competition, market black exec u t i v es who determine the billion- volatility, and the economic malaise that followed 9-11. Observers dollar bottom lines and market values of await the performance of newcomers like Clarence Otis, CEO of the wor l d ’ s large s t cor p o r ations. the $4.6 billion Darden Restaurants, and Alwyn Lewis, presi- Just who are these dynamos? BLACKENTERPRISE’s Most Pow- dent of the $55 billion Sears Holdings Corp. erful Blacks in Corporate America. These 75 men and women rep- Recently, a number of executives have been wrestling with resent the highest-ranking executives from the 1,000 largest major challenges or structuring colossal deals. For example, domestic and international corporations publicly traded on U.S. at press time, Fannie Mae CEO Franklin D. Raines, who had equities markets. All are either within striking distance of the to contend with federal regulators investigating the $53.8 CEO’s chair or operate a major revenue-generating subsidiary or billion mortgage company’s accounting and management unit. Most manage thousands of employees and control billion- practices, was in danger of losing his job. Oracle Co-president dollar budgets. (See box for selection criteria.) Charles Phillips Jr. recently closed a $10.3 billion merger with For 17 years, BE has identified members of this exclusive club. Pe o pleSoft Inc., and high-tech deal maker Thompson orchestrated In 1988, our first list of the 25 Hottest Corporate Managers was Symantec’s $13.5 billion bid for VERITAS Software. devoid of black chief executives. In 1993, among the 40 African This year’s list reveals more women at the top. For example, Americans we found at the top tier, there were 12 presidents and Young & Rubicam Brands CEO Ann M. Fudge represents one of two CEOs: Richard D. Parsons, then the CEO of Dime Savings three female chief executives. “I think African American women Bank of New York, and Clifton R. Wharton Jr., CEO of TIAA-CREF have met the challenges of corporate America,” she says, “and and the first African American to head one of the 1,000 largest absolutely there is no doubt that there will be an African American publicly held corporations. On our 2000 list of the Top 50 Blacks woman running a Fortune 500 company. It’s going to happen.” in Corporate America, the number of black CEOs grew to six. On Despite a corporate environment that is often inhospitable to this year’s register, the number of African Americans who broke black professionals, these top execs say the number of blacks into the CEO ranks has risen to 18—a phenomenal 300% residing in corner offices will continue to grow. “I think it’s increase—with 26 presidents waiting in the wings. extremely positive that we have a number of African American Their stock as leaders is almost as valuable as their company’s CEOs, presidents, and chief operating officers of major corpora- market value. Take E. Stanley O’Neal, CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co. tions as effective role models,” says Ronald A. Williams, president since 2003. He transformed a stagnant financial services monolith of the $17.9 billion Aetna Inc. “And it helps organizations focus with gargantuan debt and bloated overhead into a lean profit on becoming more of a [meritocracy], where people can be machine. With a laser beam focus and ruthless cost-cutting, O’Neal judged on the basis of the value they create and not on the basis boosted Merrill Lynch’s share price from its nadir of $36.25 to of their race or ethnicity.” $64.89—a whopping 79% increase. Paula Madison, president and general manager of Los Other corporate chieftains have worked similar magic. John W. Angeles-based KNBC and regional manager for two Telemundo Thompson, CEO of Symantec, was named BE ’s 2004 Executive of stations, sums up her philosophy of the advancement of blacks, the Year for good reason. Company shares more than doubled in particularly women, quite simply: “The important thing is to the past year, giving the computer software juggernaut a market continue getting us into the pipeline and have us positioned so value of nearly $19 billion. And over the past few years, others such that as more executive positions become available, we’re poised as American Express CEO Kenneth I. Chenault and Time Warner and ready to take advantage of the opportunities.” o develop this year’s list, our research team spent several months contacting the 1,000 largest publicly traded companies, international corporations, and leading professional associations. Our team pored over cor- porate documents and performed comprehensive research to identify candidates and review their credentials. Those featured on our list met the following criteria: ■ Each candidate had to functions in areas such be among the highest- as public affairs, human ranking executives with- resources, or diversity. in his or her corporation. Se l e c t i o n Cr i t er i a ■ Each person on our list These men and women [ ] has achieved the status are either on the CEO of chief executive, pres- track, run a major division that makes a significant con- ident, general manager, executive vice president, senior tribution to the company’s revenues, or serve as officers vice president, or another top-ranking position with sig- on their company’s executive committees. nificant management responsibility and budget author- ■ Each executive holds a senior management position ity. Those executives holding the position of general at a publicly traded company or international corpora- counsel within their corporation were excluded from tion with gross revenues of at least $1 billion. this list. ■ Each of the executives has revenue-generating or ■ Each reports to the CEO, office of the CEO/chairman, operating responsibilities, or holds a position critical COO, or the company’s board of directors. to product development and the bottom line. None of ■ Each has had significant influence in his or her com- the top executives have primary responsibility for staff pany and industry. Chief Executive Officers Kenneth I. Chenault Erroll B. Davis Jr. Reginald E. Davis Chairman & CEO Chairman & CEO CEO, Atlantic Region American Express Alliant Energy Wa c h o v i a Age: 53 Age: 60 Age: 43 Chenault has been Davis heads a $3.1 This graduate of running the execu- billion energy ser- Morehouse College tive management vices provider that joined Wachovia in team of this $25.9 serves more than 3 1985 and has held a billion financial and million customers number of positions travel services giant since early 2001. He worldwide. His tenure appears to be going in the company, primarily in commercial recently oversaw a deal with credit card well: The company’s stock price was at a real estate. As head of the Atlantic region issuer MBNA Corp. to offer consumers 52-week high of $27.64 at the end of 2004. for the fourth largest bank in the country, American Express-branded credit cards. It Davis holds an engineering degree from Davis provides executive leadership to all was the first deal between American Carnegie Mellon University and an M.B.A. retail, commercial, and small business Express and a U.S. financial institution. from the University of Chicago. He was bank operations in New York, New Jer- Company stock was $55.68 a share just first employed at Alliant Energy’s prede- sey, and Connecticut. In 2004, Wachovia, before the 2004 holiday season and had cessor, Wisconsin Power and Light Co. In which has $24.5 billion in overall revenues, reached a 52-week high of $56.60 just a 1998, he took the helm of Alliant, a com- split the management of its retail bank few weeks prior. The New York native and pany that provi d e s its Midwest customers operations, dividing it into northern and Harvard Law School graduate was also with electricity and natural gas. Other key southern groups. Davis’ region stretches as behind the landmark deal with Citibank parts of the business include the interna- far south as to South Carolina. Wachovia to issue co-branded credit cards through- tional energy market and nonregulat- services more than 14 million households out the U.S. starting this year. In 2002, ed domestic energy generation. Davis is a and businesses through some 3,200 finan- Chenault was listed as one of the 10 high- member of the advisory board of the Fed- cial centers and retail brokerage firms. est-paid executives in New York City. eral Reserve Bank of Chicago. Davis is a believer in mentoring and sup- ports various programs at his alma mater. W. H. “Bill” Easter III Arthur “Art” H. Harper Carl Horton Chairman, CEO & President CEO & President CEO & President Duke Energy Field Services GE Equipment Services The Absolut Spirit Company Inc. Age: 55 Age: 49 Age: 60 Easter helped turn Harper is at the Horton oversees Duke Energy Field helm of this $4.7 bil- the North American Services, a 2003 ven- lion GE subsidiary, operations of the ture between Duke one of four separate United States’ third E n e r g y and Cono- divisions that were largest distilled spir- coPhillips, into a $7.8 billion giant.