Mellody Hobson Biography
Mellody Hobson, an American entrepreneur born on April 3, 1969, in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serves as the chairwoman of the Starbucks Corporation as well as president and co-CEO of Ariel Investments. She resigned from her position as chairwoman of DreamWorks Animation in August 2016 after negotiating NBCUniversal’s purchase of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.
In 2017, she became the first female executive of African origin at The Economic Club of Chicago. She was chosen to lead the Starbucks board of directors in 2021 and is one of the most well-known corporate directors in the United States.
As of 2020, she is listed as the 94th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. When it was revealed on December 26, 2020, that she would be the new chairwoman of Starbucks Corp., she made history as the first black woman to hold the position of chairwoman of an S&P 500 company.
Hobson earned degrees from Princeton University in 1991 and St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago in 1987. Hobson belonged to the Cottage Club at Princeton.
Mellody Hobson Age
Mellody Hobson was born on April 3, 1969. She is 54 years old in the year 2023.
Mellody Hobson Height
Mellody Hobson stands at a moderate height of 1.66 m and her weight is 56 kilograms.
Mellody Hobson Education
Hobson earned degrees from Princeton University in 1991 and St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago in 1987. Hobson belonged to the Cottage Club at Princeton.
Mellody Hobson Family
Hobson is the smallest of a family of six kids. Her mother’s name is Dorothy Ashley. Hobson has a daughter with her husband known as Everest Hobson Lucas and two stepdaughters and a stepson. The step daughters names are known as Amanda Lucas and Katie Lucas while the stepson is called Jett Lucas.
Mellody Hobson Husband
Hobson is married to George Lucas. They started dating in 2006 after meeting at a business convention in 2005. At Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch, Hobson and Lucas were wed on June 22, 2013, after announcing their engagement in January 2013. Everest Hobson Lucas, their only child together, was born through surrogacy in August 2013.
Mellody Hobson Children
Hobson has a daughter with her husband whose name is Everest Hobson Lucas and step daughters whose names are Amanda Lucas and Katie Lucas while the stepson is called Jett Lucas.
Mellody Hobson’s Net worth
Hobson’s net worth in 2023 is estimated to be $12 million. She has earned the majority of her wealth through her business career.
Mellody Hobson Awards
Hobson was given the Order of Lincoln (the State’s highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 2018 and inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois.
Mellody Hobson Career
Hobson joined Ariel Investments, a Chicago-based investment company that oversees roughly $13 billion in assets, as an intern soon after graduating from Princeton. She advanced to the position of senior vice president and director of marketing for the company.
She advanced to the position of president of the corporation in 2000. One of the biggest US money management and mutual fund firms owned by African Americans is Ariel Investments. She spent several years contributing to the Good Morning America financial section.
Ariel Investment Trust’s board of trustees is similarly led by Hobson. She previously served as the spokesman for the annual Ariel/Schwab Black Investor Survey and is a regular contributor on financial matters to CBS This Morning.
She previously worked at The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. and is a member of the board of directors of Starbucks Corporation.
Hobson has received praise from picks like Time’s 2015 Time 100 assessment, the publication’s annual assessment of the top one hundred figures in the globe, and The Wall Street Journal’s 50 “Women to Watch” (2004) just a few examples.
Unbroke: What You Need to Know About Money, hosted by Hobson, debuted on ABC on May 29, 2009, and featured guests such as Samuel L. Jackson, Oscar the Grouch, and the Jonas Brothers.
Hobson’s TED speeches were used by actress Vanessa L. Williams to model her self-made entrepreneur Courtney Paige in the American television drama The Good Wife.
Hobson became the first African-American woman to lead the Economic Club of Chicago when she was appointed to the position in 2017. The annual “Money Issue” broadcast of CBS Sunday Morning featured Hobson as a guest host in August.
Hobson was appointed vice-chair of Starbucks Corporation in June 2018. She was selected to take on the role of board chair in 2020 after serving as the finance committee’s chair. To start a residential college at Princeton University, Hobson and the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation gave the initial gift in October 2020.
Hobson joined the investor group that bought the Denver Broncos in 2022, which also included Rob Walton, Greg Penner, Carrie Walton Penner, Condoleezza Rice, and Sir Lewis Hamilton.
