Marvin Ellison

Marvin Ellison
Birthplace	Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Business executive
Title	Chairman, President and CEO of Lowe's Companies
Known for	Chairman, President and CEO of Lowe's Companies, Inc.

Marvin R. Ellison is an American business executive who serves as the chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Lowe's Companies, Inc., a Fortune 500 home-improvement retail corporation. His career trajectory — from working as a part-time stock boy and janitor earning $4.35 per hour to leading a $161 billion home-improvement giant — has made him one of the most prominent executives in American retail. Ellison is the only Black CEO of a Fortune 500 company among major home-improvement retailers, and his rise through the ranks of corporate America has been cited as a case study in career advancement through persistence, differentiation, and willingness to take on unglamorous assignments. Before joining Lowe's, Ellison held executive positions at J.C. Penney, where he served as CEO, and at The Home Depot, where he spent more than a decade in senior leadership roles. Under his leadership at Lowe's, the company has pursued strategies to capture market share among professional contractors, deployed artificial intelligence tools to train store associates and assist customers, and positioned itself for anticipated housing market recoveries.

Early Life

Marvin Ellison was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. He grew up in modest circumstances, and his early working life began far from the corporate boardrooms he would later occupy. As a young man, Ellison took entry-level positions in retail, starting at a wage of $4.35 per hour. He worked as a stock boy and janitor, roles that would later become central to the narrative of his career ascent and the leadership philosophy he articulated as a Fortune 500 CEO.

Ellison has spoken publicly about the challenges he faced early in his career due to a lack of what he has described as an "impressive pedigree." Without the advantages of elite educational credentials or prominent family connections, Ellison has said he recognized the need to find alternative ways to distinguish himself in competitive workplace environments. "I had to find a way to differentiate myself," Ellison has stated in multiple interviews, describing how he adopted a deliberate strategy of volunteering for tasks and assignments that other employees avoided.

This early period in Memphis shaped Ellison's outlook on work and leadership. He has credited his upbringing and formative work experiences with instilling in him a belief in the value of hands-on labor and practical skill, themes he has continued to emphasize in his public remarks as a corporate leader.

Career

Early Retail Career and Target

Ellison began his career in retail at Target Corporation, where he started in an hourly position. During his time at Target, he developed his approach of seeking out responsibilities that others were reluctant to take on, a strategy he has described as instrumental to his advancement. By volunteering for jobs "nobody else wanted," Ellison attracted the attention of supervisors and earned progressively greater responsibilities within the company.

Ellison has described his time at Target as a formative period in which he learned the fundamentals of retail operations and developed the work ethic and leadership principles that would guide the remainder of his career. His willingness to take on unglamorous assignments — from stocking shelves to handling operational challenges — became a defining characteristic of his management style.

The Home Depot

After his tenure at Target, Ellison joined The Home Depot, the largest home-improvement retailer in the United States. He spent more than a decade at The Home Depot, rising through the management ranks to hold several senior executive positions. His experience at The Home Depot gave him deep expertise in the home-improvement retail sector, including knowledge of supply chain management, store operations, and the needs of both do-it-yourself customers and professional contractors.

Ellison's long tenure at The Home Depot provided him with a comprehensive understanding of the competitive dynamics of the home-improvement industry, experience that would prove directly relevant when he later assumed leadership of Lowe's, The Home Depot's principal competitor.

J.C. Penney

Ellison left The Home Depot to become the chief executive officer of J.C. Penney, the department store chain. His appointment as CEO of J.C. Penney was a significant milestone, as it placed him at the helm of a major American retailer during a period of considerable challenges for department stores amid the growth of e-commerce and changing consumer shopping habits.

His time at J.C. Penney further broadened his executive experience and prepared him for the challenges of leading a large-scale retail enterprise through periods of industry transformation.

Lowe's Companies

Ellison was appointed president and chief executive officer of Lowe's Companies, Inc., and subsequently became chairman of the board. His appointment made him the top Black CEO of a Fortune 500 company in the home-improvement sector.

Strategic Direction

Under Ellison's leadership, Lowe's has pursued several major strategic initiatives. One of the most significant has been a concerted effort to grow the company's market share among professional contractors, a customer segment that has historically been a strength of competitor The Home Depot. According to reporting by Barron's in September 2025, Lowe's under Ellison has been "adding market share among contractors," reflecting a deliberate shift in the company's customer mix and business strategy.

Ellison has also positioned Lowe's to benefit from anticipated improvements in the housing market. In a 2025 Barron's profile, he was described as being "prepared for a housing rebound," suggesting that the company has been making investments and operational preparations to capitalize on increased home construction and renovation activity when housing market conditions improve.

Technology and Artificial Intelligence

A notable aspect of Ellison's tenure at Lowe's has been the company's adoption of artificial intelligence technologies. Under his leadership, Lowe's has deployed AI tools for two primary purposes: training store associates and assisting customers. The use of AI to train employees represents an investment in workforce development and operational efficiency, while customer-facing AI applications are aimed at improving the shopping experience.

Despite embracing AI as a business tool, Ellison has been vocal about the limitations of artificial intelligence and the continued importance of human workers, particularly in service-oriented and skilled-trade roles. In a June 2025 interview with Fortune, Ellison cautioned young workers against assuming that AI would eliminate the need for hands-on skills. "AI isn't going to fix a hole in your roof," Ellison stated, emphasizing that human-facing jobs and skilled trades are not at risk of being replaced by artificial intelligence.

This message was directed particularly at members of Generation Z entering the workforce, with Ellison suggesting that the demand for workers who can perform physical, customer-facing, and skilled-trade work would remain strong regardless of advances in AI technology.

Leadership Philosophy

Ellison has articulated a leadership philosophy that emphasizes simplicity, practical problem-solving, and the value of taking on overlooked responsibilities. In a January 2026 interview with CNBC, he stated that "one of the biggest leadership mistakes is overcomplicating the work," advocating for a straightforward approach to management and decision-making.

Central to Ellison's public philosophy is the idea that career advancement, particularly for individuals without privileged backgrounds or elite educational credentials, depends on a willingness to pursue opportunities that others avoid. He has repeatedly advised aspiring professionals to "chase the job nobody wants," arguing that this approach creates visibility and demonstrates initiative. "When you don't have an impressive pedigree," Ellison has said, volunteering for undesirable tasks is a way to "get people to notice you."

Ellison has distilled his career advice into several concrete lessons that have been covered in business media. In a CNBC feature describing "four lessons from Lowe's CEO on climbing the corporate ladder," Ellison outlined principles drawn from his own experience of rising from entry-level retail positions to the top of a Fortune 500 company. These lessons, which emphasize practical action over credential-based advancement, have resonated in media discussions about social mobility and career development in corporate America.

His career narrative has been cited by publications including Fortune, CNBC, Barron's, Yahoo Finance, and MoneyWise as an example of upward mobility in the American business world, with particular attention given to the contrast between his starting point as a minimum-wage worker and his current position leading a company with a market capitalization of approximately $161 billion.

Recognition

Ellison's career trajectory has drawn significant media attention and public recognition. As the top Black CEO of a Fortune 500 company in the home-improvement sector, his leadership of Lowe's has been the subject of profiles in major business publications including Barron's, Fortune, and CNBC.

His story has been featured in discussions of diversity in corporate leadership, career advancement strategies, and the future of work in the age of artificial intelligence. Yahoo Finance published a profile in December 2025 examining his "journey to leading Lowe's as the top Black CEO of a Fortune 500 company," highlighting both the personal and professional dimensions of his rise through corporate America.

The MoneyWise feature titled "How a Former Janitor Became CEO of Lowe's" characterized Ellison's career as "a real-life career rise story" and extracted practical lessons that the publication suggested "today's workers can use to get ahead." National Today similarly profiled Ellison as a figure whose career path offers instructive lessons about persistence and strategic career management.

Ellison's public commentary on AI and the workforce has also generated attention, with his June 2025 remarks to Fortune about the continued relevance of human-facing and skilled-trade jobs being covered as a counterpoint to prevailing narratives about the displacement of workers by artificial intelligence.

Legacy

Though Ellison's career at Lowe's remains ongoing, his impact on corporate leadership discourse has already been substantial. His rise from minimum-wage retail work to the chairmanship and CEO position of a Fortune 500 company has been presented in business media as an illustrative case of career mobility in American corporate life, with particular significance given the relative scarcity of Black CEOs among the largest American companies.

Ellison's emphasis on the value of unglamorous work, his argument that career advancement is achievable without elite credentials, and his advocacy for the continued importance of skilled trades in the era of AI have contributed to broader conversations about workforce development, diversity in corporate leadership, and the future of retail and the home-improvement industry.

Under his leadership, Lowe's strategic pivot toward the professional contractor market and the integration of AI into store operations and employee training represent significant shifts in the company's competitive positioning within the home-improvement retail sector. The long-term results of these strategies will be a key part of Ellison's legacy as a corporate leader.

His career advice — particularly the principle of volunteering for jobs "nobody else wanted" — has been widely disseminated through business media and cited as practical guidance for workers at all levels seeking to advance without the advantages of elite networks or credentials.