Who

Ken Chenault is the chairman and CEO of American Express.

Backstory

As a student at Bowdoin College in the 1970s, Ken Chenault argued strenuously that the best way to serve the African-American cause was to rise to power within the Establishment, as opposed to attacking it from the outside. He clearly meant what he said: He's now one of the most powerful African-American executives in the country. After graduating from Harvard Law, Chenault worked briefly as a lawyer and management consultant at Bain & Co., joining Amex in 1981 as director of strategic planning. He soon earned recognition by turning around the company's once-moribund merchandise services division, which purveyed jewelry, electronics equipment, and other products via direct mail. Impressing then-CEO Lou Gerstner, Chenault eventually joined Amex's Travel Related Services, taking over as president of the unit in 1993. After successfully beefing up the company's credit card franchise by introducing co-branded cards and boosting the number of merchants that accept Amex, he was named American Express's president and COO in 1997. He became CEO in 2001 following the retirement of the company's longtime chief, Harvey Golub.

Of note

When Chenault took the helm in 2001, Amex's insurance and mutual unit, American Express Financial Advisors, was in crisis: big bets on risky high-yield bonds had led to $1 billion being written off in 2001. Then came the events of Sept. 11th, which unfolded directly across the street from Amex's office and left the company temporarily homeless. (Amex lost 11 employees in the attack.) The ensuing decline in travel put a big dent in 2001's earnings, and finances were so precarious that Amex was rumored to be a potential takeover target. Chenault quickly cut costs and shed more than 13,000 employees; he also elected to spin off the struggling AEFA unit, dismantling the "financial supermarket" business model that had been championed by Golub and former Amex CEO James Robinson. (The unit is now known as Ameriprise.) But perhaps Chenault's greatest accomplishment took place in 2004 when, following more than a decade of aggressive lobbying, Amex finally won approval from the Supreme Court to issue their cards in conjunction with banks like MBNA and Citigroup. (Visa and MasterCard had waged a legal battle to prevent banks from issuing competitors' cards.) However, challenges remain. The brewing economic downturn has the potential to hit Amex hard, since it relies on high-flying corporate spenders, and any weakness in the company only makes it more difficult to insist on substantially higher merchant fees.

By the numbers

In 2006, Chenault pocketed $1.1 million plus a bonus of $6 million. Add in $22 million in stock, and his total compensation for the year was $29.1 million.

Personal

Chenault is married to Kathryn Cassell Chenault, a non-practicing attorney. They have two sons, Kenneth Jr. and Kevin. Despite his wealth, Chenault has a relatively low key existence. The Chenaults live in a middle-class neighborhood in New Rochelle and own a summer home in Sag Harbor.

Off hours

Don't get between Chenault and a good game of golf. He's a member of one of the most exclusive old-boy clubs on earth, the Augusta National Golf Club. He also owns a summer house nearby.