Michele G. Buck (born 1960 or 1961) is an American businesswoman. In March 2017, she became the first female Chairman, President, and CEO of The Hershey Company, an American food manufacturing company, replacing former CEO John Bilbrey.[1][2][3][4]
Early life and education
editA native of central Pennsylvania, Buck earned a bachelor's degree at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and received a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1987.[5][6]
Career
editBefore joining Hershey in 2005, Buck worked for 17 years at Kraft/Nabisco, holding several senior positions including Senior Vice President and General Manager for Kraft Confections, as well as senior positions at the Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo.[7]
At Hershey, Buck spearheaded the acquisition of Krave Beef Jerky, acquired by Hershey in 2015, and barkThins, a healthy chocolate brand acquired in 2016.[1][8][9] Prior to her appointment as CEO, Buck served as Chief Operating Officer for Hershey, where she led the company's day-to-day operations in North America as well as operations in Central and South America.[7] In December 2016, it was announced that she was to succeed John Bilbrey as chief executive officer of the company.[6]
In 2017, Hershey announced its first acquisition under Buck, a $1.6 billion deal to purchase Amplify Snack Brands, further diversifying Hershey's holdings in the healthy snack category. It is the largest deal to date in the history of The Hershey Company.[10]
Buck currently serves on the board of directors at New York Life,[11] and as a Benefit Co-Chair for the Children's Brain Tumor Foundation.[12][13]
In October 2019, Buck was elected chairman of the board of directors at The Hershey Company.[14][15]
She was ranked 73rd on Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women in 2023.[16]
In 2023, Buck's total compensation at Hershey was $15.6 million, or 360 times the median employee pay at Hershey for that year.[17]
Buck was named to the JPMorgan Chase board of directors in December 2024, effective March 2025.[18]
Awards
editIn 2005, while serving as Senior Vice President, President of U.S. Snacks at Hershey, Buck received the Women Worth Watching Award.[19]
Buck received a Corporate Citizenship Award from the Committee for Economic Development or CED.[20]
Buck has been named multiple times to Fortune's "Most Powerful Women" list.[10][21]
References
edit- ^ a b "Hershey names 11-year vet Michele Buck to CEO post". fortune.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ Buck, Michele (2022-11-01). "The CEO of Hershey on Turning a Candy Company into a Snacks Empire". Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
- ^ "Hershey CEO Michele Buck on Empowering Internal Change Agents". Harvard Business Review. 2022-04-29. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
- ^ Gelles, David (2019-10-10). "Hershey's C.E.O. Knows How to Get Americans to Indulge". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
- ^ CNBC (21 December 2016). "Hershey names Michele Buck as new CEO". cnbc.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ a b Gasparro, Annie (2016-12-21). "Hershey Names Michele Buck CEO". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
- ^ a b "Our Leadership". Corporate. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
- ^ "The Hershey Company to Acquire KRAVE Jerky: a Leading All-Natural, Gourmet Snacks Brand". www.businesswire.com. 2015-01-29. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
- ^ foodnavigator-usa.com (25 April 2016). "Hershey acquires barkTHINS: It 'essentially created a new form of chocolate snacking'". foodnavigator-usa.com. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
- ^ a b "Michele Buck". Fortune. 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
- ^ "Board of Directors". www.newyorklife.com. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
- ^ "Michele G. Buck Appointed Lead Director of New York Life Board of Directors". www.businesswire.com. 2018-06-25. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
- ^ "Dream and Promise Awards Benefit". Children's Brain Tumor Foundation. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
- ^ "Hershey elects Buck to chair of board". www.foodbusinessnews.net. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
- ^ confectionerynews.com (16 October 2019). "Michele Buck elected chairman of Hershey board, continues as president and CEO". confectionerynews.com. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
- ^ "Most Powerful Women". Fortune.
- ^ Anderson, Sarah (2024-08-29). "Executive Excess 2024: The "Low Wage 100" corporations are enriching CEOs at the expense of workers and long-term investment" (PDF). Institute for Policy Studies. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-08-29. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
- ^ "US banking giant JPMorgan elects Hershey CEO Michele Buck to board". Reuters. 2024-12-12.
- ^ "Women Worth Watching – Michele Buck". Retrieved 2019-04-03.
- ^ "2018 Awards Dinner Spotlight: Michele Buck". Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
- ^ "Michele Buck". Fortune. 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
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