Top 10 Board Appointments of 2025 (...so far)

As we have now reached the half-way point of 2025, I thought it would be interesting to step back and share what I believe are the “best” board appointments among the hundreds which have already taken place at publicly traded corporations so far this year.  Of course, this type of list is very subjective, but I have (for the most part) approached this with the idea that these appointments meet a very real need in terms of the qualifications and perspectives which these individuals bring to these boards.

(Of note, although this list only includes board appointments at publicly traded corporations, we do include a list of “Most Intriguing Private Company Board Appointments of the Year” in our December issue of Board Recruitment.)

Honorable Mentions: Nikesh Arora (Uber); Judith Buckner (Whirlpool); Kelly Campbell (Match Group); John Chidsey (Norwegian Cruise Line); Patrick Collison (Meta); Kathryn Farmer (American Airlines); Diana Frost (Wayfair); Lynn Good (Morgan Stanley); Jack Hartung (Tesla); Barbara Klencke, M.D. (ALX Oncology); Dame Donna Langley (MGM Resorts); Maria Martinez (Bank of America); Marissa Mayer (Hilton); Claire McDonough (AutoZone); Judith McKenna (Delta Air Lines); Andrew Meslow (Vera Bradley); John Morikis (UPS); Jonathan Moulds (Citi); Juan Perez (AIG); Daniel Pinto (Johnson & Johnson); Sean Tresvant (Marriott); Maynard Webb (AppLovin); and Songyee Yoon (HP).

10 | Ellie Mertz to the Board of Directors at Netflix

Give credit where credit is due.  Despite the well-justified criticism of Netflix’s board for its decision to re-elect Lead Independent Director Jay Hoag over shareholder repudiation, the addition of Ellie Mertz is a win.  As the CFO at Airbnb, Mertz not only brings deep public company finance experience to the boardroom, but she also has institutional knowledge of Netflix – she served in the company’s finance department from 2006 to 2013.

9 | Dambisa Moyo to the Board of Directors at Starbucks

Dambisa Moyo is considered a preeminent global economist and has a proven track record of success on the boards of Chevron, Conde Nast, 3M, Barclays, and several others. Starbucks has more than 40,000 locations in more than 80 countries across the world. In an increasingly uncertain global economy marked by tariffs and potential trade wars, Moyo’s expertise in macroeconomics and international affairs is a much-needed perspective in Starbucks’ boardroom.

8 | Kevin Weil to the Board of Directors at Cisco

Let’s be clear about this – not every company needs an AI expert in the boardroom. However, when you are one of the largest technology companies in the universe and you market yourself as “revolutionizing the way organizations connect and protect in the AI era”, it’s probably a good idea to have an AI expert serving on your board.  Weil certainly fits the bill.  As the Chief Product Officer at OpenAI, Weil is at the very forefront of AI innovation and product development.

7 | Thorold Barker to the Board of Directors at Moelis

This may be the award-winner for “outside the box” thinking when it comes to board appointments, but I really like this one.  Barker served for 10 years as The Wall Street Journal’s Editor for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.  Prior to that he served as the publications Editor of Heard on the Street, which covers stories in business and finance.  As a global investment bank, Moelis is perhaps signaling here that geopolitical issues are playing a bigger consideration than people may think in terms of the M&A market, but regardless I like this appointment.

6 | Eugene Smith to the Board of Directors at Under Armour

College athletics is one of the most important target markets for Under Armour and the addition of Eugene Smith brings the sportswear company a true expert in that market to the boardroom.  Eugene Smith played football at Notre Dame and served as the Athletic Director at Ohio State from 2005 to 2024, overseeing one of the country’s largest and most successful college athletic programs. 

5 | Joy Chik to the Board of Directors at PayPal

As the world’s most popular online payment processor (user transaction in 2024 totaled a record $1.68 trillion), PayPal can’t afford any blunders when it comes to cybersecurity.  The appointment of Joy Chik to PayPal’s board goes a long way towards affirming the company’s commitment to security.  Chik is the President of Identity and Network Access at Microsoft and is responsible for leading the company’s multi-billion-dollar security business, Microsoft Entra.

4 | Craig Arnold to the Board of Directors at P&G

Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) board of directors was already an absolute who’s who of corporate titans, but the addition of Craig Arnold adds significant expertise at the crossroads of technology and innovation.  Arnold served as the Chairman and CEO of Eaton Corporation (S&P 500), a global intelligent power management company, between 2016 and 2025. This unique perspective should add tremendous value to a traditional consumer goods conglomerate like P&G.

3 | John Larsen to the Board of Directors at PG&E

It’s been just about 5 years since Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) emerged from bankruptcy.  Nevertheless, it has been a slow climb back to credibility for the 4^th largest electric utility in the U.S.  In a recent customer satisfaction survey, PG&E ranked dead last among 28 utilities nationwide.  Enter John Larsen into PG&E’s boardroom.  Larsen recently retired as Chairman and CEO of Alliant Energy, a large publicly traded utility based in Wisconsin.  During his 36-year career at Alliant, Larsen was widely recognized for his success in large-scale customer engagement.

2 | Karen Lynch to the Board of Directors at Thermo Fisher

So this is the one appointment on this list which isn’t so much about filling a glaring need as it is about grabbing an absolute superstar before her board slate is completely full.  In October of last year, Karen Lynch stepped down as President and CEO of CVS, the country’s largest pharmacy chain with more than 900 locations and 300,000 employees.  Thermo Fisher, a global leader of life science products, should benefit tremendously from Lynch’s extraordinary career in the healthcare sector.

1 | Asha Sharma to the Board of Directors at Home Depot

I realize of course that I have already stated not every company needs an AI expert in the boardroom (see #8) – perhaps least of all a home improvement retailer.  However, I absolutely love this appointment, and it should serve as a wake-up call for Corporate America.  AI is going to transform every single sector of the economy and those corporations who understand and are already reacting to this sea change will benefit the most.  Asha Sharma is a corporate vice president at Microsoft where she serves as Head of AI Platform Products.  Sharma will help to ensure Home Depot understands the opportunities and risks which AI will present in the years ahead.

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