Hobson, Mellody

Impact on the world

Became chair of Starbucks Corporation's board in 2021, making her the first Black woman to chair an S&P 500 company, after rising over nearly three decades at Ariel Investments from a college intern to co-CEO; in 2017 she also became the first African American woman to lead the 90-year-old Economic Club of Chicago.

Life & background

The youngest of six children raised by a single mother in Chicago, Hobson interned at Ariel Investments during college and joined full-time after graduating from Princeton in 1991, rising through marketing and executive roles to become company president in 2000 and co-CEO in 2019. She joined Starbucks' board in 2005 and became its non-executive chair in 2021, making her the first Black woman to chair an S&P 500 company, a role she held until 2024. She also served as chairman of DreamWorks Animation, negotiating its 2016 acquisition by NBCUniversal, co-founded Ariel's private equity arm Ariel Alternatives and its inaugural Project Black fund in 2021, and in 2025 launched Project Level, a fund focused on women's sports.

Sources

1. Britannica Money; Ariel Investments