AmEx Picks Squeri, 32-Year Insider, to Remake Credit-Card Giant
- Once a junior executive who wowed Chenault, he climbs to CEO
- Chenault will retire on Feb. 1 after 16 years at the helm
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Stephen Squeri helped American Express Co. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Chenault lead the firm through the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the 2008 financial crisis. But Chenault said a less-historic moment 30 years ago illustrates why Squeri is the right person to succeed him.
Squeri, just a vice president at the time, met with senior executives in the 1990s to discuss a problem in the New York-based credit-card company’s merchant business. Chenault said Squeri proposed the right solution and carried out the strategy.