Jeff Bezos Steps Down | How Verizon's Hans Vestberg Faced The Pandemic | Polling Black And Brown Professionals On DE&I

Plus: A Third Of Small Businesses Say They Won’t Survive Without More Government Help

In his recent Forbes CxO Nexus conversation with Delta Air Lines’ CIO Rahul Samant, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Tim Mapes explained how “no one person is an airline; it’s a network business.”

“We have a belief in the company that we win together. It’s really about collaboration and integration and partnership. Rahul and I . . . spend a lot of time [together]. We’re very much culturally aligned, which makes it that much easier to be actively aligned,” he said. “We may have a vertically different role, but it’s very immediately clear about our interdependence and mutual respect to our teams. We’re essentially joined at the hip naturally, because of our roles, but equally spiritually, just based on the culture we have here, and it just makes it that much easier for Delta.”

“It helps that we like each other a lot, and I always say to Tim, ‘I don’t know what the legend out there about CMO-CIO conflict is, because I don’t see it.’ We’re united in a common cause, a common mission,” added Samant.

It’s a critical partnership for a company like Delta that prides itself on a relentless focus on “people before profits,” something that is more important than ever as the company works to move forward and drive growth following the significant impacts of the pandemic on its business.

That C-suite partnership, that alignment, and the intricacies and nuances thereof, are what the Forbes CxO platform seeks to examine at a time when it’s needed most.

Stay tuned for more CxO interviews in season one of the Forbes CxO Nexus series.

Meanwhile, this week we continue to highlight the dramatic shifts taking place in C-suite roles—there have been some significant exits and hires among C-level executives of all titles. We’ll continue to track them that and the trends that arise.

Comings & Goings

Even though it’s just the start of February, we may have already witnessed the year’s biggest C-suite shakeup: After 26 years at the helm of Amazon, Jeff Bezos is stepping down as CEO. But don’t expect him to disappear—in his farewell, he noted his intent to remain involved in Blue Origin, the Washington Post and his foundation.

Bezos’ massive shoes will be filled by Andy Jassy, currently the head of Amazon Web Services. The appointment of Jassy, who has been with the company since 1997, could indicate Amazon’s priorities have shifted from e-commerce to cloud services.

Meanwhile, after a decade as CEO of Merck, Ken Frazier has announced that he will retire in June. Upon his departure, the total number of Black CEOs at the 500 largest publicly traded companies will be down to three. The pharmaceutical giant recently shut down it’s Covid-19 vaccination program and is instead focusing on treatment.

Finally, at UnitedHealth Group, Andrew Witty has been promoted to CEO, ousting David Wichmann, who has served in the role since 2017. Witty takes over at a difficult time for the healthcare giant; rising costs due to the coronavirus nearly halved the company’s Q4 profits last year.

Leadership & Strategy

Arne Sorenson, Marriott’s president and CEO, will be scaling back his duties while undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer. Sorenson—who disclosed his diagnosis in 2019—has built Marriott into a global juggernaut since taking over in 2012.

Corporate diversity, equity and inclusion trainings became ubiquitous this past year, but are they effective? For(bes) The Culture surveyed 450 Black and Brown professionals to gauge the true state of equality in the workplace.

McKinsey’s 2020 report on the state of artificial intelligence shows that companies are shifting their AI priorities from cost-saving to revenue-generating. Here’s what AI’s top adopters are doing.

By The Numbers

68%

The percent of Americans who support the Biden administration’s stimulus plan.

President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan may lack bipartisan support in Congress, but a significant majority of Americans approve of the plan (particularly the $1,400 direct payments).

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