It’s hump day in the new year POU family! Continuing with this week’s open thread, we highlight the accomplishments of Mellody Hobson.
Mellody Hobson (born April 3, 1969) is the president of Ariel Investments, LLC, a Chicago investment firm managing over $3 billion in assets. It is also one of the largest African American-owned money management and mutual fund companies in the United States. She is also the Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of Ariel Mutual Funds. Hobson is a regular contributor on financial issues to ABC’s Good Morning America and a spokesperson for the annual Ariel/Schwab Black Investor Survey.
Hobson was born in Chicago, Illinois, attending St. Ignatius College Prep high school, and then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1991 from the Woodrow Wilson School of International Relations and Public Policy at Princeton University. She joined Ariel soon afterward as an intern and rose to become the firm’s senior vice president and director of marketing. She ascended to become the firm’s president in 2000.
Hobson serves on the board of many organizations, including the Chicago Public Library, the Field Museum, the Chicago Public Education Fund, and the Sundance Institute. She is also a director of the Starbucks Corporation, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., Dreamworks Animation SKG, Inc. and Groupon. Hobson has been acclaimed in selections such as Ebony magazine’s “20 Leaders of the Future” (1992), Working Women Magazine’s “20 Under 30” (1992), the World Economic Forum’s “Global Leaders of Tomorrow” (2001), Esquire‘s “America’s Best and Brightest” (2002), The Wall Street Journal‘s 50 “Women to Watch” (2004).
Hobson is unmarried and has no children. She has been dating film director and producer George Lucas since 2006.
She created and hosted a show on ABC on May 29, 2009 called Unbroke: What You Need to Know About Money. It was intended to educate people about money in a creative way. It featured celebrities such as the Jonas Brothers, Oscar the Grouch and Samuel L. Jackson to talk about economics.