Good morning. For the past eight years, Stephen Squeri has served as CEO of American Express, but he built his entire career, more than 40 years, inside the company. In a new Fortune feature, my colleague Shawn Tully provides an in-depth and deeply entertaining profile of Squeri. The Bronx outsider—who was told he’d never be CEO—managed to make Amex cool again in part by betting young people wouldn’t blink at paying $900 per year for a premium card. His performance for shareholders now bests JPMorgan, Visa, and the S&P 500.
Tully writes: “Squeri has forged one of the top growth engines in financial services by luring lovers of luxe as never before, and trending exclusive and young in a big way. The success of Squeri’s highly original, against-the-tide strategy is something of a revelation. Though he heads the eighth largest U.S. player in financial services by market cap ($200 billion), and a fabled institution that ranks as Warren Buffett’s second largest holding at Berkshire Hathaway behind Apple, the Amex chief is little known to the public and keeps a far lower profile than, say, JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon or Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon.”
Since Squeri became CEO in early 2018, Amex has generated the highest returns among the largest U.S. commercial banks and payment providers. During that time, its stock has produced total yearly returns of 16.6%, Tully reported.
Squeri moved Amex away from the long-standing industry playbook which entailed bringing customers in with low-cost cards, then graduating them to premium products. He saw an opening with affluent young consumers who were willing to pay upfront for premium cards if the rewards and benefits were compelling.
To find out more about Squeri’s winning strategy and his journey to the top seat, you can read the complete article here.
Amex reported strong Q1 2026 results on April 23, with EPS of $4.28, beating estimates of $4.03 and marking a 6.2% positive surprise. The company also announced an increased quarterly dividend of $0.95 per share, payable on May 8. It would be no surprise to Squeri that younger cohorts led year-over-year spending growth: Gen Z surged 38%, millennials grew 13%, Gen X increased 8%, and baby boomers rose 4%. Sheryl Estrada [email protected]
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