Ken Chenault
Chairman & Managing Director
Investment Team
At General Catalyst, I am most interested in identifying companies with breakout characteristics, including those that are scaling quickly and have the potential to become significant, global institutions. I also work closely with our portfolio companies, particularly those with an eye towards global markets and responsible innovation, as they scale their teams and products. Companies I’m currently involved with are Bilt Rewards, Chief, CRED, and Guild Education.
I spent 37 years at American Express, most recently as Chairman and CEO, a position I held from 2001 to 2018. I am a co-founder of OneTen, a coalition of leading executives coming together to upskill, hire and advance one million Black Americans over the next 10 years into family-sustaining jobs with opportunities for advancement. I am proud to serve on the boards of Airbnb, Berkshire Hathaway, Chief, Guild Education, and the Harvard Corporation and numerous nonprofit organizations, including the Smithsonian Institution’s Advisory Council for the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Human Centered Artificial Intelligence Institute Advisory Council at Stanford University. I also serve on the board of trustees for NYU Langone Health, and as co-chair of Concordance’s First Chance campaign to end the cycle of reincarceration.
I received a BA in history from Bowdoin College and a JD from Harvard Law School. My family and I live in New York City.