Question 1

True or false: Brian Cornell is the CEO of Target and previously led PepsiCo's North American business.

Accepted Answer

True. Cornell became Target's CEO in 2014, and before that he was CEO of PepsiCo Americas Foods, overseeing brands like Frito-Lay and Quaker.

Question 2

True or false: Brian Cornell started his career as a store clerk at a Target in the 1980s.

Accepted Answer

False. Cornell began his career in marketing at PepsiCo and later held executive roles at Safeway, Michaels, and Sam's Club—never as a Target clerk.

Question 3

True or false: Under Cornell, Target launched a same-day delivery service called Shipt.

Accepted Answer

True. Target acquired Shipt in 2017 for $550 million, and Cornell championed the move to compete with Amazon's delivery speed.

Question 4

True or false: Brian Cornell once worked as a professional baseball player for the Minnesota Twins.

Accepted Answer

False. Cornell played college baseball at UCLA but never went pro—he focused on business after graduation.

Question 5

True or false: Cornell serves on the board of directors for both Apple and The Home Depot.

Accepted Answer

False. He has served on the boards of Yum! Brands and the Consumer Brands Association, but not Apple or Home Depot.

Question 6

True or false: Brian Cornell is the longest-serving CEO in Target's history.

Accepted Answer

True. As of 2025, Cornell has led Target for over a decade, surpassing the tenures of all previous CEOs, including Bob Ulrich.

Question 7

True or false: Cornell was the first outsider hired as Target's CEO in the company's history.

Accepted Answer

True. All previous Target CEOs were internal promotions; Cornell broke that tradition when he joined from PepsiCo in 2014.

Question 8

True or false: Brian Cornell earned a PhD in economics from Harvard University.

Accepted Answer

False. He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management and a bachelor's from UCLA, not a PhD from Harvard.

Brian Cornell Trivia Questions