CEO Circle – Angela Ahrendts
Angela Ahrendts
Former CEO of Burberry
Angela Ahrendts DBE was most recently Senior Vice President, Apple Retail based in Cupertino, CA. During her five years, she integrated Apple’s physical and digital businesses to create a seamless customer journey for over a billion visitors a year. Under her leadership, she redesigned the stores and recrafted the roles for 70,000 globally. She also reimagined the retail experience with the launch of a transformative educational program focused on coding, music creation, and the arts.
Prior to Apple, Angela relocated to London to join Burberry where she served as Chief Executive Officer for nearly nine years. She led the company through a period of phenomenal global growth repositioning Burberry as a global luxury brand. Her unique leadership style and focus on culture, values and purpose resulted in tripling the business and quadrupling the share price. During her tenure, she was a member of the UK’s Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council and named Honorary Dame Commander of the British Empire.
Prior to Burberry, Angela spent 25 years in New York serving as Executive Vice President, Liz Claiborne Inc., where she oversaw the acquisition and integration of over 25 brands. Earlier in her career, she was President, Donna Karan International at the height of their global expansion and IPO.
Angela is currently on the Board of Ralph Lauren Corporation., Airbnb, Inc., and WPP plc. She is also on the non-profit Boards of charity: water and the HOW Institute for Society; and in January 2021 became Chair of the Board, Save the Children International. She is a member of the Global Leadership Council of the Oxford University Saïd Business School and the BritishAmerican Business Advisory Board.
Angela has consistently been recognized by Forbes, Fortune, and the BBC as a Top 100 Global Executive. In 2010, she has was awarded an honorary doctorate of Humane Letter from her alma mater, Ball State University. In 2019, Angela was honored with an Indiana Living Legends award.