Kenneth Irvine Chenault (born June 2, 1951) is an American business executive. He served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Express from 2001.
Chenault was born in Mineola, New York, in Nassau County, the son of a dentist and a dental hygienist. His father, Hortenius Chenault, was a graduate of Morehouse College in Georgia and completed his dental degree at Howard University Dental School in 1939. In January 2014, it was reported that he had passed the New York State dental board exam with the highest score ever recorded. Kenneth Chenault attended the Waldorf School in Garden City, where he served as senior class president. He then earned a B.A. in History from Bowdoin College in 1973 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1976. On February 10, 2014, it was announced that he had been elected to Harvard Corporation, the university’s principal fiduciary governing board, which is also its smallest. The other governing body is the Board of Overseers.
After Harvard, he worked as an associate at the New York City law firm Rogers & Wells (1977–1979), and as a consultant at Bain & Company (1979–1981).
He joined American Express in 1981, starting in the Strategic Planning Group. He rose through the ranks and became President and Chief Operating Officer in 1997. He was appointed CEO of American Express in 2001.
As CEO of American Express, Chenault earned total compensation of $50,126,585 in 2007 and $42,752,461 in 2008. In 2009, he received total compensation of $16,617,639, including a base salary of $1,201,923, a cash bonus of $10,450,000, stock option grants worth $3,985,637, and other compensation valued at $980,079.
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