Biography
Brian Cornell is the Executive Chair of Target’s Board of Directors. Prior to stepping into this role, Brian served as Target’s CEO and is credited for helping transform the iconic brand into a $100 billion omnichannel retailer. Under his leadership, Target grew to nearly 2,000 U.S. stores, operating a second headquarters location in India as well as global supply chain and sourcing offices.
Brian joined Target in 2014 and quickly established a strategic direction that placed the company’s popular stores at the center of physical shopping and digital fulfillment. That vision and the acquisition of Shipt catapulted Target into a leadership position in same-day, store-based fulfillment services. As a result, Target grew by tens of billions of dollars during his tenure—a period fueled by a profitable digital business, an owned brand portfolio that grew to $30 billion, a third-party marketplace that surpassed $1 billion and a rapidly growing advertising business. Brian also spearheaded investments in wages, benefits, team training and development to make Target a destination for top talent and career growth.
In 2025, Brian was inducted into the World Retail Congress Hall of Fame. In recent years, UCLA honored Brian with the John Wooden Global Leadership Award for exemplifying the integrity, ethics and leadership for which Coach Wooden was known. He also received the Yale Legend in Leadership award, the Deming Cup for Operational Excellence from Columbia Business School, “The Visionary” award from the National Retail Federation, and Top CEO of the Year recognition by CNN.
Prior to joining Target, Brian spent more than 30 years in senior leadership positions at companies including Safeway before becoming CEO of Michaels, Sam’s Club, and PepsiCo Americas Foods. He currently serves as chair of The Business Council, is the non-executive chairman of the board for Yum! Brands and previously served on the National Retail Federation’s executive committee.