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American business executive From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Julie Terese Sweet (née Spellman, born 1966/1967)[1][2] is an American business executive and attorney. She is chair and chief executive officer (CEO) of Accenture, a multinational professional services company.[3]
Julie Sweet | |
|---|---|
Sweet in 2019 | |
| Born | Julie Spellman 1966 or 1967 (age 57–58) |
| Education | Claremont McKenna College (BA) Columbia University (JD) |
| Occupation | Businesswoman |
| Title | Chair and CEO, Accenture |
| Spouse | Chad Creighton Sweet |
| Children | 2 |
The New York Times and Fortune have named her among the most powerful women in corporate America, crediting her for "working on creating true gender equality at the office".[4][5][6]
Sweet grew up in Tustin, California,[4] and was a speech and debate star at Tustin High School.[7] She holds a bachelor's degree from Claremont McKenna College and a J.D. degree from Columbia Law School.[8]
Prior to Sweet's work at Accenture, she was an attorney at law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore.[9][10] She worked at the firm for 17 years and was partner for 10.[11][12] Sweet was the ninth woman ever to make partner at the firm.[9] She worked on financing, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate counsel.[13]
Accenture recruited Sweet as general counsel in 2010.[9] In 2015, she became CEO of Accenture's North America business, the company's largest market.[9] Since early in her career at Accenture, she has been on the company's global management committee. Alongside then-CEO Pierre Nanterme, Sweet developed Accenture's mergers and acquisitions strategy.[14]
Accenture named Sweet its CEO effective September 2019, the first woman to hold that position.[15][16] She replaced interim CEO David Rowland.[16] At the time of her appointment, she was one of 27 women leading companies in the S&P 500[9] and the 15th female CEO of all Fortune Global 500 companies.[17][18] In September 2021, Sweet became chair of Accenture.[6]
As CEO, Sweet has advocated for diversity, inclusion,[9] and workplace gender parity.[16] Sweet supports Accenture's goal to have a staff equally represented by men and women by 2025; as of 2019, 42 percent of Accenture's staff was female.[19] Sweet was named a top CEO for diversity by the website Comparably in 2019.[20]
Sweet has called for addressing the skills gap in the U.S. and supported the national apprenticeship movement.[21] She participated in The New York Times's New Rules Summit.[4]
Sweet indicated in 2023 that she wants to double the number of Accenture employees primarily skilled in artificial intelligence (AI) and data-related fields.[22] In 2024, Sweet announced Accenture's plans to open 10 generative AI 'innovation hubs' around the world.[23]
In 2023, Sweet's total compensation at Accenture was $31.6 million, or 1,526 times what the median employee at Accenture earned that same year without a cost-of-living adjustment.[24] This is equivalent to 633 times what the median employee at Accenture earned that same year adjusted for cost-of-living.[25]
In addition to Accenture's board of directors, Sweet has been a member of the Business Roundtable and Catalyst.[26][27][28] She has also served on the trustees boards for the Center for Strategic and International Studies,[29] the World Economic Forum,[30] and Bridges from School to Work, which was established by the founders of Marriott International.[31][32]
Sweet is married to Chad Creighton Sweet,[1] and has two daughters.[12][33] They live in Bethesda, Maryland.[2]
The New York Times called Sweet "one of the most powerful women in corporate America" in 2019.[4] Fortune magazine included Julie Sweet in their "Most Powerful Women" list since 2016,[34] and she was named No. 1 on the list for 2020.[35] Fortune noted she "steered Accenture’s more than half a million employees in 51 countries through the pandemic." Sweet has subsequently been ranked by Fortune as No. 3 on the list for 2021,[36] and No. 2 on the list for 2022.[37]
Sweet was included in the list of "World's 100 most powerful women" by Forbes (in 11th position) in 2023.[38]
In 2024, the Anti-Defamation League gave Sweet its 2024 Courage Against Hate Award.[39]
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