Mellody Hobson is one of the most powerful women in corporate America. While some may not know her name, she is breaking barriers in finance and football.
Hobson is the co-CEO of Chicago-based Ariel Investments, the first Black-owned mutual investment firm in the U.S., which oversees nearly $18B in assets. She’s on the board of directors at J.P. Morgan Chase, chair of the Starbucks board, and serves on several non-profit boards.
“Now that you’re the chair when you walk in any Starbucks in the world, they must have your picture in there. They know you,” David Rubenstein, Host of The David Rubenstein Show, said.
Hobson replied, “No. It’s like being a secret shopper.”
In 2015, TIME magazine named her one of the ‘100 Most Influential People’ in the world.
Hobson has been at the forefront of race, diversity, and inclusion issues, advocating that corporate boardrooms and C-suites look more like America.
“Imagine if I walked you into a room, and it was a major corporation like Exxon Mobil, and every single person around the boardroom was Black,” Hobson said during a 2014 TEDTalk. “You would think that’s weird. But if I walked you into a Fortune 500 company and everyone around the table is a white male, when will it be that we think that’s weird, too?”
Hobson is the youngest of six kids raised by a single mother in Chicago. Her mother, who has since passed away, was an aspiring real estate investor who struggled to make ends meet.
“As a result of this [childhood], I always had this no father in the life, this money issue,” Hobson said during a speech at Yale School of Management. “I always had a deep gnawing and need for security and control.”
Her experience growing up motivated her to pursue a finance career and significantly influenced her philanthropy efforts.
In 2022, Hobson is tackling a new challenge with the Denver Broncos as the first African American to have an equity stake in an NFL franchise, an achievement many believe will open up the door for other Blacks to pursue ownership opportunities.
“She may not be in the room of 32 [NFL owners] who are voting on things, but hopefully, she will have a say in what the Broncos are going to do,” Linsey Jones, a writer for The Athletic, told 9NEWS in Denver.
Hobson is considered a desperately needed force for change for a league struggling to overcome issues with race and a lack of diversity in coaching and the front office.
It’s a fitting title for the wife of Star Wars creator George Lucas.
“I’ve learned you always let the smartest one give the speech,” Lucas said during a Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy acceptance speech alongside his wife.
“I have to say; he did a pretty good job. A lot more words than normal,” Hobson joked.