Mellody Hobson

Mellody Hobson
Hobson in 2007
Born (1969-04-03) April 3, 1969 (age 55)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
EducationPrinceton University (BA)
OccupationBusinesswoman
Spouse
​
(m. 2013)​
Children1 (Everest Hobson Lucas)

Mellody Louise Hobson Lucas[1][2] (born April 3, 1969) is an American businesswoman who is president and co-CEO of Ariel Investments,[3] and former chair of Starbucks.[4] She is the former chairman of DreamWorks Animation,[5] having stepped down after negotiating the acquisition of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc., by NBCUniversal in August 2016. In 2017, she became the first African-American woman to head The Economic Club of Chicago.[6] On December 26, 2020 it was announced she would become chair of Starbucks in 2021, thus becoming the first black woman to chair an S&P 500 company,[7] making her one of the highest profile corporate directors in the United States.[8] She would serve in the role of chair until August 2024.[4]

As of 2020, she is listed as #94 in Forbes list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women.[9]

  1. ^ "Form ADV" (PDF). Ariel Investments. September 1, 2003. p. 38.
  2. ^ "Mellody Hobson LUCAS". Companies House. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  3. ^ Roeder, David (July 11, 2019). "Mellody Hobson named co-CEO of Ariel Investments". Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference StarbucksNYTaug2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Mellody Hobson: Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dreamworks Animation website. Accessed 11-01-15
  6. ^ Marotti, Ally (May 2, 2017). "Mellody Hobson to chair Economic Club of Chicago, first black woman in post". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  7. ^ "Mellody Hobson becomes Chairwoman of Starbucks". December 26, 2020. Archived from the original on December 28, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  8. ^ Ludlow, Edward; Roeder, Jonathan (December 9, 2020). "Starbucks Names Hobson Chair in Gain for Black Directors". Bloomberg. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  9. ^ "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women". Forbes. Archived from the original on September 20, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2020.