Black CEO Ranks Dwindle With Ken Frazier's Exit
There are fewer Black leaders now than in 2015.
Ken Frazier’s retirement as chief executive officer of pharmaceutical maker Merck & Co. points to the fragility of gains for senior Black executives at major U.S. corporations, which have pledged to increase representation of minorities in the C-suite.
The number of Black CEOs in the S&P 500 will rise to six when Roz Brewer takes over as Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. on March 15 but then fall again to five, assuming no other changes, when Frazier steps down after a decade in the job. Frazier, who will be succeeded by a White man, will become the drugmaker’s executive chairman. That leaves Arnold Donald at cruise company Carnival Corp. as the longest-serving Black CEO in the index, at almost eight years. Craig Arnold at Eaton Corp., Rene Jones at M&T Bank Corp. and Marvin Ellison at Lowe’s Cos. round out the list. Brewer will be the lone woman.