Kenneth Chenault
Kenneth Chenault
Kenneth Irvine Chenaultis an American business executive. He has been the CEO and Chairman of American Express since 2001. He is the third black CEO of a Fortune 500 company...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBusinessman
Date of Birth2 June 1951
CountryUnited States of America
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Fourth quarter results from continuing operations met or exceeded our long-term targets for earnings, revenues and, on a pro forma basis, return on equity. Higher spending by affluent consumers, small businesses and corporate Card members more than offset the impact of an industry-wide spike in bankruptcy filings before new legislation went into effect last October.
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While we are seeing signs of improvement in volumes, we are continuing to take a cautious view and expect the economy to remain weak throughout 2002,
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I've been in the company since 1981 and involved in the card business since 1984, and I believe we are in the strongest position we've been in, ... I remain confident in our overall network strategy and our relationship with MBNA going forward.
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The actions we announced today are being taken to ensure that we're in a strong position to navigate through what we expect to be a longer period of economic weakness,
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We are making good progress on our reengineering initiatives, our risk profile is stronger, and some aspects of the economy -- particularly unemployment rates -- are looking better than we had anticipated at the start of the year,
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I think what's important to understand is if the United States hits the debt ceiling and is unable to pay its debts, the consequences will be immediate and dramatic.
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I had very little exposure to business growing up. I also was very focused on the Civil Rights Movement. And I saw law as a vehicle to really bring about substantial change.
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For a number of major companies, if you can't access the commercial markets, you can't fund your business. That's a big problem. You can't pay your bills.
I've always tried to seek out environments with excitement.
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What's increasingly clear is that when you are open to a discussion of leadership, and you're relating it to your company, it is much easier to get people to become open.
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There was a strong focus on performance and respect for people. And one of the points that my father always made was that with all the challenges and obstacles and barriers, the one thing you can control is your performance. And that is one thing I have tried to adhere to throughout my career.
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My message to Washington is the United States has gone through incredible crises, and our leaders have been able to find common ground. And that's what our leaders have to do.
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Harvard Law provided an opportunity to learn from a faculty that had shaped the laws of our country and helped to change the world around us. It also offered an opportunity to study with the brightest students and to test myself against the best.
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There are clearly some policies that need to change, and the reputation of the credit card industry is not high. Reforms need to take place.