Target (TGT) is tapping a homegrown talent as its next CEO at one of the most pivotal moments in its 63-year history.
The discounter announced that longtime CEO Brian Cornell’s heavily groomed No. 2, Michael Fiddelke, will take over as CEO on Feb. 1, 2026. Cornell, who has been CEO of Target since August 2014, will slide into the executive chair position for an undetermined period of time. Fiddelke joined Target in 2003 as an intern and rose through the ranks to CFO and then COO.
“I’ve had this conversation with the board for a number of years, and I’ve been in the role for 11 years. I’m going into my 12th now. I will actually turn 67 early next year, and I think it’s time for me to step back, recharge, spend a lot more time with my family, a lot fewer nights in hotels, and be a great supporter of Michael and the team for the rest of my life,” Cornell told me by video call while sitting next to Fiddelke at the company’s Minneapolis headquarters.
Fiddelke added, “I bleed Target red after 20 years here, and there’s nothing more important to me than working with the incredible team that we have to chart the next chapter for Target. I mean, I’ve seen us in that 20 years at our best. I’ve seen us not at our best. When we’re at our best, we are pretty darn tough to beat.”
To students of Target history such as myself, this decision isn’t a surprise. For one, Fiddelke has been Cornell’s right-hand man for several years now. It has become quite apparent over the past year that he was grooming Fiddelke to take over while also working behind the scenes to get board buy-in. I have gotten to know Fiddelke in recent years. He is a nice fella and has indeed earned the opportunity to sit in the CEO seat.
If this was any other time for Target, the decision would probably be celebrated. It’s not often an intern at a company becomes its CEO. The only comparable story I can think of is Walmart (WMT) CEO Doug McMillon going from truck loader at the retailer to CEO.
But Fiddelke will unlikely have a honeymoon period, seeing as he has been there at Target during its past 24 months of struggles (which includes a weak second quarter). People I have talked to wanted an outsider as Target’s next CEO, fresh eyes to come in and fix what is wrong (not unlike when Cornell was brought in back in 2014 — his career was mostly spent at Walmart and PepsiCo (PEP)). Fiddelke will be seen as a continuation of a strategy that hasn’t been working.
I asked him on the call how candid he plans to be in the early going on the strategy review, which is what all new leaders do. He sounded like he was ready to divert from Cornell’s playbook and shake things up. He will have to do just that, and quickly, to win over a likely skeptical Wall Street.