Gregg Steinhafel
Chairman, President and CEO
Target
Born and raised in Milwaukee, Gregg Steinhafel’s first experience in retail was working at the furniture store founded by his grandfather, an Austrian immigrant. At Target, he espouses teamwork and community engagement on a much larger scale. “A high-performing, diverse, passionate and resilient team is a business imperative,” he told Fair360, formerly DiversityInc.
Steinhafel received a bachelor’s degree from Carroll University in Waukesha, Wis., in 1977 and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in 1979. He joined Target the same year as a buyer and steadily moved up the chain of command, holding multiple posts in merchandising and operating. Steinhafel was named President in 1999, joined the board of directors in 2007, added the title of CEO in 2008, and was appointed Chairman of the Board in 2009.
After more than three decades at Minneapolis-based Target, Steinhafel is heavily involved in the local community. He sits on the board of TreeHouse, a Minnesota nonprofit that supports at-risk teens, and is on the Executive Committee of the Minnesota Business Partnership. Steinhafel is also a member of Business Roundtable, serves on the Museum Council for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and is Chairman of the Board for the Retail Industry Leaders Association.
Steinhafel is married and has three children. He enjoys boating, snowboarding and cheering for the Chip Ganassi Racing team, which Target sponsors.
