The Fortune 500 is set to gain another female CEO among its ranks as U.S. Bancorp welcomes Gunjan Kedia to the top job.
Kedia, 54, currently serves as president of the business, which she joined in 2016. In April she will take on the corner office from Andrew Cecere, who has been in the role since 2018.
Leading America's fifth-largest bank in 2025 is no small undertaking. CEOs and analysts across Wall Street are growing increasingly uneasy about the policy coming out of the White House, as well as rising geopolitical tensions and the suffering health of consumers as a result.
The stock market has wobbled in recent weeks—losing the majority of gains made during the so-called 'Trump bump'—with speculation mounting about just how far trade wars between the U.S., China, Canada and Mexico will go.
Despite the watchlist of red flags in Kedia's inbox seemingly growing daily, she's had years to prepare for the challenge.
In its 2025 proxy statement, the bank, which reported net revenue of $27.5 billion in 2024, revealed it had conducted a multi-year process establishing candidates with "the necessary experience, leadership capabilities, skills and attributes critical to the role and leadership of our company."
Kedia emerged as the frontrunner and was named to inherit the CEO position following the company's annual shareholder meeting on April 15.
In his letter to shareholders published on March 5, Cecere outlined that his successor will prioritize continuing to unite the bank's 70,000 employees, including those it inherited courtesy of its recent MUFG Union Bank acquisition.
He wrote: "We have spent considerable time simplifying and optimizing our organization—aligning business lines under Gunjan, centralizing our operations, and enhancing our technology experiences for employees and clients.
"We have talked about being 'one U.S. Bank' for many years ... Interconnectedness is the manifestation of the one U.S. Bank approach, and it is a focus Gunjan is bringing to the organization as we head into the future. Our intent is to think as one team."
Having completed the purchase of Tokyo-based MUFG in December 2022—the sale coming in at $5 billion, plus 44 million U.S. Bancorp shares (which had an average price of $44 over the past five years)—Cecere said the institution was now ready to use that leverage for its next era.
The bank has also spent billions, he added, on improving technologies and digital capabilities, as well as launching new services such as Business Access advisors and U.S. Bank Smartly.
The launches, acquisitions, and innovation all come at a cost—which could lead to questions of over-leverage.
Cecere countered: "All these things came at a cost ... They were, however, the right actions for our company. We took these steps without ever losing sight of our foundational strengths in risk and financial discipline or of our dedication to a culture of engagement and putting our clients first.
"Which is why, now, we find ourselves at an inflection point. It is incumbent upon us to leverage all we have done to maintain a leadership role in the industry. The investments we have made over the past seven years are now fully loaded into our run rate, and revenue growth will come through our unique, interconnected businesses."
As standard for any business, directors must report their ongoing concerns. But as any CEO of a big American business will know, risks are only ramping up.
Changing policy out of the White House, for example, will be an ongoing concern for many businesses that import from or export to major trading partners like China, Canada, and Mexico. On top of that, the Oval Office has already suggested hikes for the EU could soon come into play.
Among U.S. Bancorp's risks are "changes in trade policy, including the imposition of tariffs or the impacts of retaliatory tariffs"—an outcome that came to fruition the same week the report was published.
Changes to the base rate and unemployment rate are also mentioned, with the former becoming increasingly unlikely as the Federal Open Market Committee eyes a potentially inflationary environment because of tariffs.
In the longer term, U.S. Bancorp also reported that "risks associated with climate change have affected, and may continue to affect, the company and its customers and communities."
Following wildfires that ripped through California earlier this year, destroying hundreds of thousands of homes, the company cautioned: "Risks associated with climate change are continuing to evolve rapidly, making it difficult to assess the effects of climate change on the company, and the company expects that climate change-related risks will continue to evolve and increase over time."
U.S. Bancorp's share price is down 8.7% for the year to date, up 0.4% over the past year, and 17.8% over the past five years.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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