Edward A. Brennan (January 16, 1934 – December 27, 2007) was chairman of the board, president (1980–1995) and chief executive officer (1984–1995) of Sears, Roebuck and Co. Edward Brennan was born in Chicago into a family of Sears associates: his grandfather, father and uncles all worked there,[1] and his younger brother, Bernard F. Brennan, left Sears for the rival Chicago-based retailer Montgomery Ward and became its CEO in 1985.
[6] In March 1980 his predecessor as CEO, Edward R. Telling, appointed him president with the task of reinvigorating the company's stores.
[7] The following January the managerial structure was changed and he became chairman and CEO of the Sears Merchandise Group subsidiary of the company, a position he held until being appointed CEO of the company in August 1984, after which he also served as president again until Telling's retirement from the position of chairman of the board on January 1, 1986.
[12] As CEO, although in 1985 he presided over the introduction of the Discover Card, the first new major credit card in twenty years,[10][13] during the 1990s he dismantled the conglomerate that Telling had assembled, spinning off Discover, Dean Witter, Coldwell Banker, the Sears Mortgage Banking Group, and also Allstate Insurance,[10] which was founded in 1931 as part of Sears.
During his chairmanship, the company also mortgaged and ultimately gave up and moved out of its headquarters, the Sears Tower.