Starbucks Names Mellody Hobson Board Head, Making Her Only Black Female Chair Of S&P 500 Company

Starbucks will promote board Vice-Chair Mellody Hobson to chair in March, replacing the retiring Myron “Mike” Ullman, which will make her the only Black woman to lead the board of directors for an S&P 500 company, according to Bloomberg. 

KEY FACTS

Hobson, who is the co-CEO of the asset management firm Ariel Investments, has been on the board since 2005 and ascended to the vice-chair role in 2018.

KEY BACKGROUND

Following a push for board diversity, last year, for the first time, all S&P 500 companies had a female board member. Women occupy just 21.2% of S&P 500 board member seats in 2020, according to the research firm Catalyst. Just 15 S&P 500 companies have a female chair, among the companies in which the CEO does not hold the top role, according to Bloomberg.

TANGENT

In October, Hobson donated money to establish a residential college at her alma mater, Princeton University. The college will be the first at Princeton to be named for a Black woman.

SURPRISING FACT

Hobson was on the Forbes’ World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list this year.