Edward H. Bastian (born June 6, 1957) is an American business executive. He is the ninth and current

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...

, serving in this role since May 2, 2016.

Early life and education

Bastian grew up in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...

, the oldest of nine children. His father was a dentist and his mother was a dental assistant. The couple operated a

dental practice Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of ...

from within the family home. He graduated from

Our Lady of Lourdes High School Our Lady of Lourdes High School is an American private Roman Catholic school, located in Poughkeepsie, New York, in Dutchess County. The school received accreditation from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in May 2004. In ...

in Poughkeepsie in 1975. In 1979, Bastian received a

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

from St. Bonaventure University in

Cattaraugus County, New York Cattaraugus County (locally known as Catt County) is a county in Western New York, with one side bordering Pennsylvania. As of the United States 2020 census, the population was 77,042. The county seat is Little Valley. The county was created ...

Career

Bastian began his career as an

auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting and a ...

in New York City at Price Waterhouse, now PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC). During a 1981 annual review, he uncovered a $50 million

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

scheme involving ad powerhouse

J. Walter Thompson J. Walter Thompson (JWT) was an advertisement holding company incorporated in 1896 by American advertising pioneer James Walter Thompson. The company was acquired in 1987 by multinational holding company WPP plc, and in November 2018, WPP merge ...

. This prompted a

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

investigation, leaving many PWC executives with marred careers. A few years later, Bastian was named partner at age 31. After PWC, he served as

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

at PepsiCo, where he managed international finances for its

Frito-Lay Frito-Lay is an American subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets, and sells corn chips, potato chips, and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-fla ...

snack division until 1998, when he joined Delta Air Lines as vice president - finance and controller. In 2000, he was promoted to senior vice president – finance and controller. Bastian left Delta in 2005 to become senior vice president and

chief financial officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

Acuity Brands Acuity Brands, Inc. is a lighting and building management firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with operations throughout North America and in Europe and Asia. It currently has about 13,000 employees and recorded net sales of $3.7 billion for ...

. Six months later, at the request of then-Delta CEO

Gerald Grinstein Gerald ("Jerry") Grinstein (born 1932) is an American businessman, the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Delta Air Lines. He was CEO of Burlington Northern Railroad from 1985 to 1995, and joined Delta's board of directors in 1987. He became ...

, he returned to the airline to serve as chief financial officer. In 2007, he was appointed to president, a position he held until assuming the role of CEO in May 2016. His transition to CEO was the first time Delta had chosen a chief executive officer from within the company since 1987.

Personal life

A father of 4, he splits his time between

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, where

is headquartered, and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Awards and recognition

* In 2021, Bastian will assume the role of

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

for the

Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce is the chamber of commerce for the Atlanta metropolitan area. It was founded in 1859. History The first Atlanta Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1859, and was chiefly concerned with fighting railroad rate d ...

. *In 2018, ''Fortune'' named him to its annual World's 50 Greatest Leaders list. * On February 17, 2018, Georgia Governor

Nathan Deal John Nathan Deal (born August 25, 1942) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 82nd governor of Georgia from 2011 to 2019. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party in 1992 a ...

and the

Georgia Historical Society The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) is a statewide historical society in Georgia. Headquartered in Savannah, Georgia, GHS is one of the oldest historical organizations in the United States. Since 1839, the society has collected, examined, and tau ...

inducted Bastian to the Georgia Trustees, the highest honor an individual can receive from the state. * In 2017, he was recognized by

Glassdoor Glassdoor is an American website where current and former employees anonymously review companies. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, it has additional offices in Chicago, Dublin, London, and São Paulo. Glassdoor also allows its users to ...

as a Top CEO, based on employee reviews. *In 2017, Bastian was honored by the ''

Atlanta Business Chronicle The ''Atlanta Business Chronicle'' is a weekly newspaper covering business news in Atlanta, Georgia, published by American City Business Journals. The paper has both a weekly print edition and an online edition. History The ''Atlanta Business ...

'' as one of Atlanta's Most Admired CEOs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bastian, Ed Living people 1957 births People from Poughkeepsie, New York Delta Air Lines people American airline chief executives St. Bonaventure University alumni PricewaterhouseCoopers people PepsiCo people