Target Appoints New CEO

Target Corporation has named retail veteran Brian Cornell as the its new chief executive officer replacing longtime CEO Gregg Steinhafel, who departed May 5. Cornell was also appointed chairman of the board of directors.

The top priorities for Cornell, who will assume the new role on August 12, will be accelerating the company’s performance and advancing Target’s omni-channel evolution. He will receive a base salary of $1.3 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and will be eligible for a bonus of up to $2 million and stock-based awards with a target value of $3.8 million.

Cornell recently served as the chief executive officer of PepsiCo Americas Foods, where he supervised the company’s global food business, the largest of PepsiCo’s four divisions. He was responsible for a portfolio that included Frito-Lay North America, Quaker Foods and all of PepsiCo’s Latin America food and snack businesses.

Prior to Pepsico, Cornell served as president and CEO of Sam’s Club, a division of Walmart Stores. Cornell also held the position of CEO at Michaels Stores, Inc., and prior to that, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Safeway.

 “As we seek to aggressively move Target forward and establish the company as a top omni-channel retailer, we focused on identifying an extraordinary leader who could bring vision, focus and a wealth of experience to Target’s transformation,” says Roxanne S. Austin, interim non-executive chair of the board, Target. “The Board is confident that Brian’s diverse and broad experience in retail and consumer products as well as his passion for leading high performing teams will propel Target forward.”

“I am honored and humbled to join Target as the first CEO hired from outside the company.  I am committed to empowering this talented team to realize its full potential, lead change and strengthen the love guests have for this brand,” said Cornell. “As we create the Target of tomorrow, I will focus on our current business performance in both the U.S. and Canada and on how we accelerate our omni-channel transformation.”