Bose appoints its first female CEO

Bose has named its first female CEO. Lila Snyder will take charge of the company beginning September 1st. Snyder’s appointment is notable considering tech still has so few female CEOs, especially at major brands.

Most recently, Snyder was president of global e-commerce at Pitney Bowes. Previously, she was a partner at the consulting firm McKinsey. She has both a master’s and PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT. Snyder will take over for Phil Hess, who stepped down as Bose CEO in March.

"We wanted the absolute best person, no matter how long the search took,” Bose chairman Bob Maresca told CNET. “Lila's background, experience, track record and values are right for Bose, for the exceptional people who work here, and for our amazing customers who count on us every day.”

While the tech world has boosted its efforts to bring more women into the industry, the gains have been marginal. Google’s overall workforce, for instance, is only 32 percent women. Of those, 52 percent are white and 42 percent are Asian. Only six percent are Latinx and 3.7 percent are Black. The disparities are even more apparent when you look at the number of men versus women in CEO and leadership positions.

Bose doesn’t report its earnings, but Snyder is likely stepping in to the company at a difficult time. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Bose announced plans to close all of its US and European stores, and earlier this summer it shut down its AR development. It consistently produces some of the best noise-cancelling audio gear, but we’re still waiting on the company’s long-promised noise-cancelling wireless earbuds.