Michael Fiddelke
Chief Executive Officer
2026 – Present
0 years (current)
Key Decisions & Impact
Fiddelke interned at Target in 2003 while earning his MBA at Northwestern's Kellogg School, joined full-time in 2004 after a stint at Deloitte Consulting, and rose through finance, merchandising, human resources, and operations over 22 years -- including serving as CFO from 2019 to 2024 and then COO -- before being named CEO effective February 1, 2026, succeeding Brian Cornell.
Legacy
Fiddelke inherited a company coming off three straight years of revenue decline, and Target's stock slumped on the announcement of an internal successor rather than an outside hire; his first full quarter as CEO showed early signs of a turnaround, with Q1 FY2026 net sales up 6.7% and comparable sales up 5.6%. His internal promotion, following 22 years at the company, was framed by the board as a vote of confidence in continuity over the disruption an outside hire might bring during an already difficult turnaround period. His finance and operations background, rather than a merchandising pedigree, reflects the boards priority on operational discipline over creative retail vision in the current turnaround phase.