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Brian C. Cornell (born 1959) is an American businessman who was the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Target Corporation from 2014 to 2026. In August 2025, he announced that he would step down as CEO effective February 1, 2026, to become executive chairman. He is also non-executive chairman of Yum! Brands.
Cornell graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1981. He attended the UCLA Anderson School of Management in 1991.
Cornell was on the board of directors of OfficeMax from 2004 to 2007 and of The Home Depot from 2008 to 2009. He has been on the board of Centerplate and Polaris Industries. Cornell has been on the board of directors of Yum! Brands since 2015. He is the chairman of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, and has been a board member since 2015.
In August 2014, Cornell replaced Gregg Steinhafel as chairman and CEO of Target. During his tenure, Cornell shut down the loss-incurring Target Canada. He occasionally visits Target stores and asks guests about their shopping experiences. As CEO, Cornell has been featured by news outlets such as CNN, which described him as Target's "ace CEO" and credited him with Target's strong growth in the 2010s. In 2019, he was named CNN's "Business CEO of the Year".
In 2021, Cornell publicly stated his commitment to programs at Target to support diversity, equity, and inclusion after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. He said. "I recognize that it's time to take it to another level, and that as CEOs, we have to be the company's head of diversity and inclusion."
In 2022, Cornell received the National Retail Federation's "Visionary" award, given each year to "an outstanding retail industry leader".
In 2022, Target announced that its board of directors had eliminated the company's mandatory retirement policy that would have forced the CEO to retire at age 65.
In 2023, Cornell's total compensation at Target was $18.1 million. He earned a higher annual bonus due to the company's improved profits, though his overall compensation dropped. In 2024, Cornell's total compensation at Target was $9.9 million, which was 45% lower than his 2023 compensation and 87% lower than his 2020 compensation of $77.5 million.
On August 20, 2025, Target announced that its COO, Michael Fiddelke, will replace Cornell as CEO starting on February 1, 2026.
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