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Exactly how many Black CEO's are there? The numbers aren't pretty, as you would expect, but here's a breakdown:
In the US there are currently 4 Black CEO's in the Fortune 500, this is down from a peak of 6 in 2012 and is just 0.4% of the total CEO positions in the largest 500 public companies across the country
There has only ever been 17 Black CEO's in total
There has only ever been 17 Black CEO's in total
The four CEO's are: Kenneth Frazier of Merck & Co, Marvin Ellison of Lowe's, Jide Zeitlin of Tapestry, and Roger Ferguson Jr. of TIAA
Honourable mentions are for former CEO's: Ursula Burns, Xerox from 2009 to 2016 and Ken Chenault, American Express from 2001 to 2018
Honourable mentions are for former CEO's: Ursula Burns, Xerox from 2009 to 2016 and Ken Chenault, American Express from 2001 to 2018
Other former CEO's mentions are: Dick Parsons, Time Warner from 2002 to 2007, Don Thompson, McDonald's from 2012 to 2015 and Bernard Tyson, Kaiser Permanente from 2012 to 2019, who unfortunately died whilst serving in the position
In the UK there is currently 1 Black CEO in the FTSE 100 - As of 2019, there were more CEO's called Steven than from any ethnic background in the index
The lone Black CEO in the UK is: Arnold W. Donald, Carnival Corporation & plc
The honourable mention is for the Former Prudential CEO, Tidjane Thiam who served from 2009 to 2013 and became the first Black man to hold the top position at a FTSE 100 company when he was appointed
The honourable mention is for the Former Prudential CEO, Tidjane Thiam who served from 2009 to 2013 and became the first Black man to hold the top position at a FTSE 100 company when he was appointed
Next is Europe, there are currently no Black CEO's of any public company across the continent
An honourable mention is again for Tidjane Thiam who served as the CEO of Credit Suisse from 2015 to 2020, making him the first Black person to lead a major European bank
An honourable mention is again for Tidjane Thiam who served as the CEO of Credit Suisse from 2015 to 2020, making him the first Black person to lead a major European bank
Last but not least is Canada, who also have no Black CEO's but as far as I can see have never had one!
Another important thing to note is that this analysis focused mainly on the CEO position, however if you look at company boards and other C-Suite positions the numbers don't get much better
Black people currently held 3.3% of C-Suite or senior leadership positions in the US
Black people currently held 3.3% of C-Suite or senior leadership positions in the US
The lack of Black talent at this level makes it very difficult to progress to the CEO position as they will likely lack the experience needed to qualify, this means change will not only have to come from the top but at the grassroots level too
With companies waking up to the #BlackLivesMatter 
movement and the widespread racial inequality in the corporate world, hopefully they wake up to this and actually start to do something about it
movement and the widespread racial inequality in the corporate world, hopefully they wake up to this and actually start to do something about it
