 
Mark Ernst,
Chairman, President and
Chief Executive Officer |
Mark Ernst, 49, is Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of H&R Block, Inc.
He was appointed CEO in January 2001 and elected Chairman of the board in September 2002. Ernst joined H&R Block in 1998 and was first elected to the board of directors in 1999, when he was appointed President.
Since joining the company, Ernst has been responsible for developing and implementing a long-term strategy that strengthens the H&R Block brand and builds on the company’s history of service to clients. Under his leadership, H&R Block has been sharpening its strategic focus on increasing the value that its tax professionals bring to their client relationships; advancing the H&R Block mission to become its clients’ tax and financial partner; strengthening its senior management team by hiring executives with the expertise needed to offer clients a range of complementary financial services; and bringing more discipline to its planning processes. The company and its subsidiaries provide clients with tax and other financial services and products, including personalized financial advice about retirement savings and other opportunities to help them build a better financial future.
Before joining H&R Block, Ernst was a senior executive with American Express for 12 years. As Senior Vice President, Third Party and International Distribution, he established American Express’ retail financial services business in Japan and developed and directed initiatives to distribute investment products through third parties. As Senior Vice President, Workplace Financial Services, Ernst developed and expanded the company’s brokerage and defined contribution plan services groups, personal trust and retail qualified plans groups. Among other strategic planning assignments for various business units within American Express, he also developed tax, accounting and consulting services to individuals and small business owners through the Tax and Business Services unit.
Before joining American Express, Ernst worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers (Coopers & Lybrand). He was previously with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Comptroller of the Currency.
Ernst received an MBA degree from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He received an undergraduate degree from Drake University. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
Ernst is a member of the board of directors of Great Plains Energy, the Greater Kansas City Area Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, the H&R Block Foundation, the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, Operation Hope and the American Royal and is a trustee of the Kansas City Symphony. In addition, Ernst serves as a member of the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Leadership Council, the University of Chicago Council on the Graduate School of Business, the University of Missouri - Kansas City Board of Trustees and the Midwest Research Institute. He is also an advisor for The Aspen Institute Initiative on Financial Security.
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