Target CEO Brian Cornell decides to stay in position for three more years
Yahoo Finance Live reports on Brian Cornell's decision to stay on as Target CEO and the shift in executive work culture.
Video Transcript
SEANA SMITH: Well, Target CEO Brian Cornell will stay on the job for another three years. This coming after Target's board of directors scrapped the company retirement age of 65 for the CEO role. And Rachelle, I don't think this comes as maybe a huge surprise, given how instrumental Brian Cornell has been to Target over the last eight years. He's been the CEO since 2014. He's really helped the company consistently build on its customer base.
The company has had a lot of success under him. It's no secret that it's been a challenging couple of quarters here for Target as we started to see the consumer shift their spending trends. Also the fact that retail companies in particular are dealing with these very high inventory levels. So it's going to be a challenging time here for Target and some of its peers moving forward. But Brian Cornell staying at the helm, I think, is good news here for Target and for its shareholders.
RACHELLE AKUFFO: And it's actually surprising that actually most industries have done away with having a mandatory retirement age. And obviously, CEOs staying in their jobs longer. Not just, obviously, when companies are doing well, they want them to stay on, but also, during times of volatility, you really want someone to sort of steer you through it.
You don't want to have a lot of changes and upheaval when it comes to the CEO role at a time when things aren't going well, especially you have a rate rising environment. That's not the time you want to be pulling out as CEO. So not surprising, but obviously, something that we'll probably continue to see. And I don't know what that means in terms of succession, in terms of more people getting into those roles, but at least keeping the ship on track.
DAVE BRIGGS: And if you're Brian Cornell, when you're making $19 million a year, I think it's a pretty easy decision. But you're right about the trend. At 3M, Merck, and Boeing, all in the last year, moved their retirement age. So I think you're just seeing people more and more work to a later age. I think we're finding out more about the mental health benefits of staying sharp and keeping working well into your 70s. It's just a whole new world in terms of keeping that ticker fresh.
But I also think it ties to a Wall Street Journal story that talked about how CEOs today are more fit than ever before. I think they're just-- this is what they can control. We realize that it didn't used to be this way 10 or 15, 20 years ago. You retired. You got old. You didn't do much. Now you're really taking control. You're looking at me like I'm crazy.
SEANA SMITH: I was going to say, what does this mean for you? Are you going to be working now until you're 80?
DAVE BRIGGS: I work out more now than I did when I was 25. I work more now than I did when I was 20 years old. And I think I see that in a lot of my peers. We realize that's how we stay alive, is by continuing to grind. Just one man spirit.
SEANA SMITH: I know. I mean, we certainly have seen this trend. I don't think that is a surprise. I think it's very-- you bring up that mental health aspect. It makes a lot of sense. It will be interesting to see because we're in this very uncertain time on an economic-- from an economic standpoint, if we'll see more of these CEOs sign on and how long they're willing to sign on for. I think that's going to be interesting, whether or not--
DAVE BRIGGS: If there's a recession on the way.
SEANA SMITH: --a year or two extension, or if we see them staying on for five or 10--
DAVE BRIGGS: No contract for Cornell.
SEANA SMITH: The big news--
RACHELLE AKUFFO: Guys--
SEANA SMITH: --though, for you, or good news, I guess, I should say for us, it doesn't sound like you're going anywhere anytime soon. Dave is going to be right here for the next 30 years.
RACHELLE AKUFFO: I know we could continue this probably for the next 30 years, but we'll have to leave it there.
