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 especial ...

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 world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...

, serving in this role since May 2, 2016.

Early life and education

Bastian grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, 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 ...

in accounting from St. Bonaventure University in Cattaraugus County, New York.

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 scheme involving ad powerhouse J. Walter Thompson. This prompted a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 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 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 at

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, 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 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'' 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