Stephen J. Squeri: American Express Veteran Chairman and CEO

When Stephen Squeri joined American Express in 1985, he likely didn't expect to spend over four decades at the company. But one role led to the next, gaining experience across its divisions and eventually transitioning to lead the iconic company. Today, as Chairman and CEO, he balances Amex's heritage with the demands of an increasingly competitive industry. This is his story.

Key insights

• Experience within the company: Stephen Squeri has spent more than four decades at American Express advancing through its ranks before becoming CEO.

• Replacing Ken Chenault: He became CEO in 2018, succeeding longtime leader Ken Chenault, marking the culmination of a career built entirely within American Express.

• The payments industry: Squeri leads American Express in a highly competitive payments market, balancing its closed-loop model against Visa, Mastercard, major banks, and fintechs like Klarna and Affirm.

Early years and early career

Stephen J. Squeri was born in 1959 and grew up in Queens, New York City. After high school, he stayed close to home and enrolled at Manhattan College, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1981 and later an MBA in 1986. Today, he serves as Chairman of the Manhattan College Board of Trustees, maintaining a lasting connection to the institution that shaped his early professional life.

Early on in his studies, Squeri began his professional career as a management consultant at Arthur Andersen & Company. In 1985, during his final year of graduate school, he joined American Express – a company where he would spend the next four decades, gradually working his way through its many divisions and eventually rising to its top post.

American Express career

Squeri joined American Express, first serving as a manager in the Travelers Cheque Group, then still one of the company's cornerstone businesses. Early on, he demonstrated his value and advanced within the organization. By the early 2000s, he was leading Establishment Services in the U.S. and Canada, overseeing relationships with merchants. A few years later, he moved into the Global Commercial Card business, expanding Amex's role in corporate payments.

In 2005, he was named Chief Information Officer while also heading corporate development, where he guided the company's mergers and acquisitions strategy. Four years later, he became group President of Global Services, responsible for technology, customer service, and fraud operations worldwide.

His responsibilities continued to expand over the next decade. In 2011, he was appointed group President of Global Corporate Services, overseeing Amex's business-to-business payments and expense management portfolio. By 2015, he had risen to Vice Chairman, taking charge of the company's commercial services arm. Having spent more than three decades at Amex, he was by then one of its most experienced leaders.

With experience spanning nearly every corner of the business, Squeri was well-positioned to succeed longtime CEO Ken Chenault, which he did in early 2018 when he was named Chairman and CEO of American Express.

CEO of an American institution

As the leader of American Express, he inherited what can be described as no less than an American institution. Few brands carry the same combination of history, prestige, and cultural recognition as American Express.

Warren Buffett, the company's most notable investor, has often described Amex as a “one-of-a-kind” business. He first invested in the company in the 1960s, and has through Berkshire Hathaway remained a major shareholder for the past two decades. To Buffett and many others, American Express represents a rare blend of enduring brand power and resilient business fundamentals.

Squeri's promotion capped a career spent inside nearly every corner of the organization, giving him both a deep understanding of the business and the industry in which it competes. Taking over from longtime CEO Ken Chenault, he now faced the task of honoring Amex's heritage while guiding it through a rapidly changing financial landscape.

Competition and maintaining true to its values

Unlike Visa and Mastercard, which operate open-loop networks that power billions of cards issued by banks, American Express runs a closed-loop model, serving as both issuer and network, allowing it to control the full customer experience.

Further reading: Visa and Mastercard: The Global Payment Duopoly

As CEO, Squeri stepped into an increasingly complex payments ecosystem. Visa and Mastercard dominate global acceptance, while major banks like JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Capital One compete directly for the same affluent customers Amex targets. New challengers have also emerged. Fintech players like Klarna and Affirm are reshaping consumer habits through BNPL offerings, while Capital One's acquisition of Discover signals that even traditional banks see value in combining issuing with a proprietary network.

Yet through shifting competition and changing consumer behavior, American Express continues to innovate while being committed to what has defined it for more than a century: a brand built on trust, prestige, and service.

In conclusion

With more than four decades at American Express, Squeri knows the company inside and out. Since joining in 1985, he has gained experience across nearly every part of the organization before becoming CEO in 2018. It is that deep connection to the company's history that guides him as he leads American Express into the future.