Page 67 - BE 50th Anniversary Edition

“From my peer group my fellow CEOs of these major compa- nies Earl was not a a stranger He was well- respected No one took lightly a a a call from Earl Graves That was one of those calls that you took immediately To have an an African American busi- nessman of his stature call and explain the point of of view of of the African American consumer the African American associate had a a a a huge impact on the way I thought about making decisions in our company And his impact on others was similar ” —Steve Reinemund Retired Chairman & CEO PepsiCo
FRANÇOIS LOCOH-DONOU
F5 NETWORK INC PRESIDENT & CEO: 2017-PRESENT
Previously living in in the West African nation of Togo and in France Locoh-Do- nou brings a a rich global perspective to his leadership of F5 Networks Inc He was named president CEO and a a a member of the Seattle-based firm’s board of directors in April 2017 He brought 20 20 years of enterprise technology experience to F5 Network which offers application deliv- ery networking technology His acumen delivered record revenue for the publicly traded company of $2 1 1 billion in 2017 He was recognized in 2018 by Black Enterprise as one of the most influential blacks in in technology RENÉ F JONES
M&T BANK CORP CEO: CEO: 2019-2020 CHAIRMAN & CEO: CEO: 2017-PRESENT
Leading the holding company for M&T Bank and Wilmington Trust Jones over- sees $139 5
billion in assets more than 750 domestic banking offices and 17 000 employees across eight states and the District of Columbia Jones who has an African American father and a a a a a a Belgian mother joined M&T in in 1992 as an executive associate after starting his career at at Ernst & Young and real estate firm The Group Inc Serving as the company’s chief financial officer from 2005 to 2016 he was appointed to the Management Committee in 2005 and named vice chairman in 2014 JIDE ZEITLIN
TAPESTRY INC CEO: 2019-2020 CHAIRMAN: 2014-2020
At one point Zeitlin controlled some of the world’s most recognized luxury brands As chairman and CEO of Tapestry he led the $5 9 billion luxury fashion holding firm that designs makes and markets products from Coach Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman His appointment as CEO in September 2019 made him one of seven African American CEOs of an an an S&P 500 company at the time But Zeitlin resigned as Tapestry’s chairman and CEO in July 2020
amid a a a a board investigation into his personal behavior tied to a a a a a romantic rela- tionship before becoming CEO The Wall Street Journal reported 65
“We have an an opportunity
to to substantially improve equality for everyone to to have equal equal opportunities
to advance in in corporate America in in particular None of us are are satisfied today with where we we are are Where would we we be if it it wasn’t for the grand champion of Earl Graves Sr? He led this charge It was his his vision initially and we are in in a a a a a a a much better place today because he he he led the way When I think about Mr Graves and his influence I would say it’s much broader than business ” —William C C C Rhodes III Chairman & CEO AutoZone
50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL