About Dick Parsons
Richard Parsons, former CEO of Time Warner and Citigroup, has been active in discussions about racial inequity in finance and corporate leadership. In March 2023, he participated in a Washington Post Live interview to discuss The Equity Alliance, a fund he co-founded to invest in minority and female-led venture funds. Parsons described the lack of capital flowing to women and minority fund managers as "structural inequality," adding that he does not use the term "racism" because it "suggests there's an intentionality to it." He stated that less than two percent of the $70 to $80 trillion asset management industry goes to minorities or women.
In December 2023, Parsons commented on the lack of CEO diversity, noting that there are only six Fortune 500 companies run by black CEOs, which he called a record high. He attributed the slow progress to a lack of familiarity between groups, saying, "It's a struggle because we don't live together and therefore we don't have familiarity with each other." He added that until corporate boards become more diverse, significant change in the CEO role is unlikely, though he expressed hope that the complexion of corporate America is changing, particularly with more women joining boards.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Dick Parsons's recent appearances.
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Transcript (4 segments)
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Interviewer0:00
If Dick Parsons is confident in the banking system, I have no right not to be. Mr. Parsons, today there are only six Fortune 500 companies run by Black CEOs, which is actually a record high—more than when you were a CEO. What's preventing greater racial representation at the top of corporate America?
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Dick Parsons0:31
Well, I think it's akin to what I called earlier: structural inequalities. I mean, who sits on the boards? Boards are the ones that determine who's going to be CEO. And I can tell you from my experience, whenever I was involved in a search or looking for somebody, to find somebody of color, people would actually say to me, 'Well, I don't know anybody. I don't know where they are.' And I would say, 'Well, you're not going to find them at your club, right? You're not going to find them living next door to you. You have to reach out.' That's something we need to keep harping on: the reach-out part. There will be more. At least now—I made this prediction 20 years ago when I was CEO that there would be many more Blacks and women—women are doing well in this regard, but you do run into them in your club and you have some familiarity. But as long as we tend to live separately again—going back to that, becoming a nation of separate nations—as long as we live separately, and as long as corporate boards in particular are amenable... Women are starting to come on board, but white men, it's a struggle. Simply because I don't know any...
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Interviewer2:15
Wait, Mr. Parsons, repeat that because your mic went out. It's a struggle because what?
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Dick Parsons2:23
Oh, it's a struggle because we don't live together, and therefore we don't have familiarity with each other. And until the complexion of corporate America at the board level changes more, you're not going to see that much change in the CEO job. But the complexion of corporate America is changing—there are more minorities and particularly more women. And so I have hope. It's just a slow-moving process. Needs to speed up.
