Rosalind G. Brewer, also known as “Roz,” is an American businesswoman and as of March 2021, serving as the CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance. With her appointment in 2021, she is the only African American CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Brewer was the first African American woman to become CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Group President and COO of Starbucks, and CEO of Sam’s Club. Brewer has also held various leadership positions at Walmart and Kimberly-Clark.[1]
USA Today referred to her as "one of corporate America's most prominent women and black female executives."[2] Brewer has been ranked a "Highly Powerful Woman" by both Forbes and Fortune magazine.
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. is an American pharmaceuticals holding company headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois. It owns the pharmacy chains Walgreens and Boots, as well as several pharmaceutical manufacturing, wholesale, and distribution companies. The company was formed on December 31, 2014, after Walgreens purchased the 55% stake in UK and Switzerland-based Alliance Boots that it did not already own. The total price of the acquisition was $4.9 billion in cash and 144.3 million common shares with fair value of $10.7 billion.[2] Walgreens had previously purchased 45% of the company for $4.0 billion and 83.4 million common shares in August 2012 with an option to purchase the remaining shares within three years.[3] Walgreens became a subsidiary of the newly created company after the transactions were completed.[4] As of 2020, Walgreens Boots Alliance is ranked #19 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.[5]
