Mellody Hobson
America's #59 Best-Selling Black Author of 2026
America's #29 Best-Selling Black Author of 2025
America's #50 Best-Selling Black Author of 2024
1-time AALBC.com Bestselling Author
Biography
Mellody Hobson (born April 3, 1969) is co-CEO and president of Ariel Investments, the first African American-owned mutual fund company in the United States. She is Lead Independent Director of Starbucks Corporation and serves on the board of directors at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Princeton University, her alma mater, is building a new residential college in her name—the first to be named after a Black woman. Time magazine listed her as one of the 100 Most Influential People. She is married to filmmaker George Lucas, and this book was inspired by their young daughter. Mellody Hobson splits her time between Chicago and San Francisco.

