Kenneth Chenault Biography

Kenneth Chenault is an American business executive. He was the CEO and Chairman of American Express from 2001 until 2018. He is the third African American CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Chenault was born in Mineola, New York, Nassau County, the son of a dentist and dental hygienist.[7] His father, Hortenius Chenault, was a graduate of Morehouse College and Howard University Dental School. The elder Chenault passed the New York State dental exam with the highest score ever recorded as of January 2014. Chenault as a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. Kenneth Chenault attended the Waldorf School of Garden City, where he served as senior class president. He then received a B.A. in history from Bowdoin College in 1973, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1976.

Chenault began his career as an associate at the law firm Rogers & Wells (1977–1979) in New York City, and as a consultant for Bain & Company (1979–1981).

Chenault joined American Express in 1981, working in the Strategic Planning Group. He became president and chief operating officer in 1997. He became CEO of American Express in 2001.

Chenault is the co-chair of the Business Roundtable, a board member at IBM, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a member of the Executive Committee of The Business Council for 2011 and 2012.

In 1995, Ebony listed him as one of 50 "living pioneers" in the African-American community. Chenault was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2008, he gave the commencement address at Howard University.

On October 18, 2017, he announced that he would retire as its chairman and chief executive on February 1, 2018. He was succeeded by Stephen J. Squeri.

In January 2018, Chenault announced he would become chairman and managing director of General Catalyst Partners and joined the board of directors of Airbnb. Chenault has served on the board of directors of Facebook since February 2018. In December 2018, it was announced that Chenault would step down from his board roles at IBM and Procter & Gamble on February 13, 2019.

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