U.S. Bancorp CEO Andy Cecere to retire, Gunjan Kedia named successor

UPDATE: This story includes comments from Kedia and Cecere, reaction from analysts who cover the company and additional information about Kedia’s background.

U.S. Bancorp has picked Gunjan Kedia to be its next chief executive officer, succeeding Andy Cecere, who will retire as CEO in April, the Minneapolis-based company announced Tuesday.

Kedia, who has been Cecere’s heir apparent since May, when she was promoted to president, will take over as CEO following the company’s annual shareholders meeting on April 15, U.S. Bancorp said in a press release. Cecere, who has also been serving as chairman of the board of directors, will then shift into the role of executive chairman for an undisclosed period of time, the bank said.

Kedia, 54, will be the first woman to run the seventh-largest U.S. bank by asset size and one of just two women CEOs leading the nation’s 50 largest banks. Jane Fraser has been the CEO of Citigroup since 2021.

Kedia was ranked No. 4 on American Banker’s 2024 Most Powerful Women in Banking list.

She will retain the president title, a company spokesperson said in an email.

In a joint interview Tuesday with Cecere, Kedia laid out her major priorities as CEO — accelerating growth at the $678 billion-asset company, transforming its payments business and increasing productivity. Much of the focus will be on deepening client relationships, Kedia said.

“I have very strong confidence in our ability to execute on these priorities,” Kedia told American Banker. “My role here will be to harness this with a sense of urgency.”

The CEO transition plan caught some industry observers off-guard and appeared to impact U.S. Bancorp’s stock price, which fell by nearly 3% in afternoon trading. It closed the day down at about 2%.

Gerard Cassidy of RBC Capital Markets wrote in a research note that news about Cecere’s retirement plan “comes as a surprise,” since in his opinion “there were no apparent signs of [Cecere] looking to step down” during the company’s investor day presentation in September.

Others were more critical of U.S. Bancorp, the parent company of U.S. Bank. Mike Mayo, an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities, wrote in his own research note that the company’s CEO transition plan seems “rushed.” He said he is “disappointed with the timing,” noting that Kedia has been president for less than a year.

Mayo previously suggested that Kedia has not yet gained enough experience to be CEO. After the company’s investor day, Mayo wrote that while he “came away with a favorable impression of [Kedia’s] grasp of the numbers and key priorities … given her relatively short tenure and with new heads in each [lines of business] ensuring accountability may be a challenge.”

The company declined to respond to Mayo’s comments. During the interview with American Banker, Cecere said the transition is the result of “a very thoughtful succession plan” that has been underway for years, culminating Tuesday with the board’s decision to put Kedia in the top seat.

“We’ve been watching Gunjan grow in influence and experience with the company … and we are extremely confident in her ability to guide the company,” Cecere said. “She understands the business, and she’s driven to help the organization perform at its best.”

Cecere, 64, has worked at U.S. Bancorp for nearly four decades. In addition to serving as chairman and CEO, he has previously held the titles of president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer.

During Cecere’s eight years as CEO, U.S. Bancorp has grown by way of acquisitions — most recently, it bought MUFG Union Bank in California in 2022 — as well as organically. At last year’s investor day, Cecere and other executives said the company has reached an inflection point, where its recent investments are starting to pay off in the form of rising profits and receding expenses.

At the investor day, the company laid out new profitability targets. Over the next two to three years, U.S. Bancorp plans to achieve a return on assets of 1.15% to 1.35% and a return on tangible common equity in the high-teens. It set an efficiency ratio target of mid- to high-50s.

The company has some room for improvement. For full-year 2024, it reported a return on assets of 0.95% and a return on tangible common equity of 17.2%. Its full-year efficiency ratio came in at 62.3%.

Kedia, an engineer by training, has been one of the highest-ranking executives at U.S. Bancorp since joining the super-regional bank in 2016. Initially, she served as vice chair of wealth management and investment services. In 2023, her role was expanded to include leadership of the bank’s corporate and commercial banking division — part of a series of leadership changes at the time.

As president, Kedia has been overseeing all three of the company’s core businesses — consumer and business banking; payment services; and wealth, corporate, commercial and institutional banking. Combined, the businesses employ 38,000 people in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

In total, U.S. Bancorp has about 70,000 employees and operates a retail branch footprint that covers large portions of the Midwest through the West Coast. Several of its businesses are national in scope, including wealth, commercial real estate and capital markets, and its merchant payment services and investment services businesses are international.

Kedia grew up in India and earned an electrical engineering degree from Delhi College of Engineering. She later earned a Master’s in Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. She had jobs at PricewaterhouseCoopers, the consulting firm McKinsey and Bank of New York Mellon before joiningState Street, where she worked for nearly eight years before joining U.S. Bancorp.

Kedia is one of 16 people — and one of three women — onU.S. Bancorp’s managing committee. In connection with her promotion to CEO, she will also join the company’s board.

“We are inspired by Gunjan’s vision for the company, and we are confident in her ability to guide U.S. Bancorp into a vibrant and engaging future that honors the past while achieving new possibilities,” Roland Hernandez, the board’s lead independent director, said in the release.