Starbucks Appoints Black Woman as Board Chair...The Only One Among S&P 500 Companies

▲ Melody Hobson appointed as Chairperson of Starbucks Board of Directors

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Global coffee franchise Starbucks has appointed a Black woman as its next board chair. Starbucks is the only company included in the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index to appoint a Black woman as board chair.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 9th (local time), Starbucks announced that it has appointed Melody Hobson, a Black woman, as its next board chair. Hobson, currently co-CEO of the investment firm Ariel Investments, will succeed current chair Myron Ullman III and lead Starbucks' board starting March next year.

Hobson joined Ariel at age 22 and became the company's president in 2000. Last year, she was appointed co-CEO.

She has served as an outside director of Starbucks since 2005 and is currently also an outside director at JP Morgan.

Together with her husband, film director George Lucas, she participates in numerous charitable organizations and business ventures.

According to governance analysis firm Equilar, Hobson will be the only Black board chair among companies included in the S&P 500 index.

As of August, only 8% of directors in S&P 500 companies are Black.

According to recruiting firm Russell Reynolds Associates, as of this month, 149 companies in the S&P 500 have no Black directors at all.

Meanwhile, Starbucks mandated bias prevention training for executives last October and has strengthened policies to secure workplace diversity, including linking executive compensation systems to enhancing minority representation within the company.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.