Shari Ballard

Former Senior EVP & President-Multichannel Retail,
Best Buy

Shari Ballard is a seasoned executive with more than 25 years of deep retail experience. She most recently was the president of multichannel retail for Best Buy Co. Inc., where she was responsible for all U.S. Best Buy stores, e-commerce, Best Buy Mexico and the company’s real estate strategy. She continues to serve in a consulting role.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan – Flint, Ms. Ballard was hired in 1993 to work in a local Best Buy store, beginning as an assistant store manager and rising to general manager. After a variety of retail leadership roles, she was promoted to executive vice president of human resources and legal.

In 2007, Ms. Ballard assumed responsibility for Best Buy stores in the United States, focusing her energies on deepening customer relationships and better utilizing the full range of talent and resources that reside within the company’s stores to drive growth. She was promoted to president of Americas, U.S. and Mexico in 2010, and two years later, she was appointed president of international, overseeing business and the transformation efforts in Canada, China, Europe and Mexico. In 2014, Ms. Ballard assumed the role of president of U.S. retail and eventually began a dual role to include chief human resources officer. In 2017, she added e-commerce to her responsibilities.

Ms. Ballard serves on the board of directors for Ecolab Inc., the global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services, and the board of trustees for the University of Minnesota Foundation.