A legendary Black CEO exits, with eyes fixed on his next fight
Updated 9:12 AM;
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When Kenneth Frazier retires at the end of June as Merck’s CEO, the number of Black CEOs at Fortune 500 companies will shrink to three.
His departure draws attention to a lingering question: Why are there still so few Black CEOs? In fact, why are Black professionals so severely underrepresented at the CEO, senior vice president and director levels in corporations in New Jersey and across the U.S.?
It’s a question Frazier will address after he steps down from the pharmaceutical giant. Last year, he co-founded OneTen, a group enlisting major companies to recruit, mentor and promote 1 million African American executives over the next decade.