Top 100 Biographies

Shekar Natarajan, AMP EVP – Chief Supply Chain Officer American Eagle Outfitters

Shekar Natarajan is the Executive Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer for American Eagle Outfitters. In this role, Natarajan is entrusted with challenging operational turnaround and business- improvement initiatives that require strategic vision, leadership and direction. Natarajan’s accomplishments in this role include unleashing swift, market-driven solutions during a challenging economic climate and achieving the company’s largest ever first quarter profit performance and 5X growth of the company’s stock price, launching aggressive supply chain strategies that decreases annual operating costs by $35M, and streamlined inventory operations and improved inventory productivity by 17%. Natarajan’s most recent accomplishment was being entrusted to run the recently acquired AEO subsidiary, Quiet Platforms, which brings modern logistics capabilities to the world of commerce. Natarajan is also an author, penning three books translated into 11 languages. He has been published in more than 75 thought-pieces in media such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Bloomberg, CNN, CNBC, and Fox. Natarajan earned his Bachelor’s of Technology in mechanical engineering from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University; his Master’s of Science in industrial and systems engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology; and his Advanced Management Degree from the Harvard Business School.