Gunjan Kedia took the reins as CEO of $726 billion-asset U.S. Bancorp in April 2025 and hasn't looked back. Under her leadership, U.S. Bancorp has already acquired capital markets firm BTIG, partnered with Amazon to issue the retailer's new small-business credit card and struck a landmark deal with Commissioner Roger Goodell to be the official bank and wealth management sponsor of the NFL.
It's a coming out, Kedia says, for a "beautiful brand" that doesn't get the national recognition it deserves. "We're spreading out from here," she gestures past the windows of a conference room in the company's Minneapolis headquarters. "Our goal is to be known and loved everywhere the NFL is known and loved."
Kedia, who arrived in 2016 after stints at State Street and Bank of New York Mellon, took the helm under intensifying investor scrutiny. U.S. Bancorp is the nation's fifth-largest commercial bank and a powerhouse in areas like payments, but its long-standing reputation for efficiency and performance suffered in recent years. Shareholders were agitating for change.
Kedia focused initially on securing "quick wins" in areas like payments transformation, efficiency and organic growth. "My first job was to make people believe again that we were actually very good and not defined by a short period of underperformance," she explains.
While Kedia isn't afraid to pursue smaller M&A deals, organic growth is the priority. She emphasizes connecting business lines and leveraging partnerships to deepen customer relationships and drive fee income. The NFL deal came with a commitment to provide players with financial education, something the league prioritized.
"Gunjan has great commercial instincts. She's always client-first," says CFO John Stern. "She has created a greater sense of urgency. Someone gets a win and people want to replicate it."
The approach is paying off. Net income jumped 20% in 2025, while key return ratios showed healthy bumps. The pace has continued this year, with second-quarter earnings up 20% from year-earlier figures. U.S. Bancorp's share price recently hit an all-time high.
"The bank needed a jolt, a change agent," says Ebrahim Poonawala, head of North American bank research for Bank of America Securities. "Gunjan represents the best of both worlds. She brings external experience, but she's been with the bank long enough that it's not disruptive."
Kedia, who grew up in India, serves on the boards of both the Bank Policy Institute and The Clearing House. She regularly lobbies Washington decision-makers on the industry's behalf and has embraced a lead role in the community.
As federal immigration troops besieged Minneapolis last winter, she met with 60 anti-ICE protesters who unexpectedly descended on company headquarters. "It was an instant decision. I didn't want to hide under my desk. I wanted to hear them out," she says. "That is the role of the leader of a large company in a community under stress."
Kedia might be a first-time CEO, but she's a natural leader.
