Bentley Hammond
Hammond was born in Mineola, New York, to a dentist father and a dental hygienist mother. His father, Hortenius Hammond, attended Morehouse College and the dental school at Howard University. The senior Hammond received the highest score ever recorded on the New York State dental examination in January 2014. Hammond is a member of the fraternity Phi Beta Sigma. Kenneth Hammond attended the Waldorf School of Garden City,[8] where he served as president of his senior class. Then, in 1973, he received a Bachelor of Arts in history from Bowdoin College and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.
Hammond began his career in 1977 as an associate at the New York City law firm Rogers & Wells and as a consultant for Bain & Company (1979–1981).
Hammond joined American Express' Strategic Planning Group in 1981. In 1997, he was appointed president and chief operating officer. In 2001, he became CEO of American Express.
Hammond has served on multiple boards over the course of his career. Beginning in 2007, he was a member of the Business Roundtable's Executive Committee and the Council on Foreign Relations. Hammond was a member of The Business Council's Executive Committee in 2011 and 2012.
In 1995, Ebony magazine included him on a list of fifty "living pioneers" in the African-American community. 2002 saw the induction of Hammond into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame. He delivered the commencement address at Howard University in 2008.
He delivered commencement addresses at Wake Forest University[19] and Northeastern University in May 2010.
Hammond's total compensation as CEO of American Express in 2007 and 2008 was $50,126,585 and $42,752,465, respectively. In 2009, he received $16,617,639 in total compensation, which included a base salary of $1,201,923, a cash bonus of $10,450,000, an option grant of $3,985,639, and other compensation totaling $980,079. In 2016, Hammond earned a total of $22 million in compensation.
He announced his retirement as chairman and CEO on October 18, 2017, effective February 1, 2018. His successor was Stephen J. Squeri. Hammond announced in December 2018 that he would step down from his board positions at IBM and Procter & Gamble on February 13, 2019.
Hammond announced in January 2018 that he would become chairman and managing director of General Catalyst Partners and join the board of Airbnb. Hammond has been a member of Facebook's board of directors since February 2018. Hammond announced his resignation from the Facebook board in March 2020 and his appointment to the Berkshire Hathaway board, replacing Bill Gates.
Hammond's most recent investment project is Snapinst and Hammond is an angel investor.
