Carlos Miguel Gutierrez is an American former CEO and former United States Secretary of Commerce. He is currently a Co-Chair of Albright Stonebridge Group, a strategic advisory firm. Gutierrez is a former Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Kellogg Company. He served as the 35th U.S. Secretary of Commerce from 2005 to 2009.
Gutierrez was born on November 4, 1953 in Havana Cuba. Gutierrez’s family fled for the United States in 1960, when he was six years old, settling in Miami.
Gutierrez joined Kellogg’s in Mexico in 1975 as a sales representative and management trainee. In January 1990 he was promoted to corporate vice president of product development at the company’s headquarters in Battle Creek, Michigan, and in July of that year, he became executive vice president of Kellogg USA. In January 1999, he was elected to the company’s Board of Directors. In April he was appointed president and CEO.
On November 29, 2004, Gutierrez was chosen by President George W. Bush to become Secretary of Commerce. As Secretary of Commerce, Gutierrez also served as Co-Chair of the U.S. Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba. Secretary Gutierrez was actively involved in U.S.-Cuba policy alongside Co-Chair Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Gutierrez played a key role in the passage of CAFTA-DR and in promoting the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.