Best Buy is considered by many to be the leading provider of consumer technology products and services, with approximately 100,000 employees in North America and $47 billion in annual revenue. At its helm is 44-year-old Minnesota native Corie Barry. She joined Best Buy in 1999 and has held a variety of financial and operational roles within the organization.
Prior to her appointment as CEO in 2019, Barry served the Chief Financial Officer of the company. Her duties in this capacity included overseeing all aspects of global finance, as well as information technology, digital technology, enterprise risk and compliance, audit, procurement, and pricing functions.
Barry’s journey to her powerful position started from humble roots. After her parents’ divorce at the age of three, she lived with her father and stepmother full-time. The pair were struggling artists and the family traveled the country selling leatherwork. Her middle school years were tough, with a partially nomadic lifestyle creating stress and a constant sense of disorganization.
By high school, Barry knew that, if she was going to break out of her small town and succeed in life, excelling in academics was her ticket out. After graduation, she attended the College of St. Benedict, where she double majored in accounting and management.
After college, Barry began a career in public accounting with Deloitte and Touche LLP and achieved her CPA certification. In 1999, she began her journey with Best Buy after being so impressed during an interview that she quit her accounting job on the spot and took up a position as a financial analyst. She quickly moved up through the ranks, earning the roles of senior vice president of domestic finance and then chief strategic growth officer.
Under Barry’s leadership, Best Buy reported $47.2 billion in annual revenue for the fiscal year ending January 30, 2021, up from $43.6 billion the year before, and $42.8 billion the year before that.
“I love this company, and I mean it when I say that it feels like family,” she said after being appointed as CEO. “The amount of humility I feel stepping into this chair is immense and, at the same time, it’s balanced with a true sense of excitement. I am proud of the work we are doing.”