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America’s C-Suites Keep Getting Whiter (and More Male, Too)

Diversity stops here.
(From left) Ursula Burns, Indra Nooyi, and Ken Chenault.

(From left) Ursula Burns, Indra Nooyi, and Ken Chenault.

Photo illustration: 731; Photographer: Denis Balibouse/Reuters (Burns); Mark Peterson/Redux (Nooyi); Mary Altaffer/AP Photo (Chenault)

When Ursula Burns, Indra Nooyi, and Ken Chenault took over as the chief executive officers of Xerox, PepsiCo, and American Express, respectively, they also set new expectations for what women and people of color could achieve in 21st century corporate America. Their departures show how fickle progress can be.

The occupants of corner offices are a stunningly homogeneous bunch. There are now just three black CEOs running Fortune 500 companies, down from a height of eight three years ago. The number of women serving as CEOs was down to 24 as of May, a 25 percent drop since June 2017.