What commercial roles or board positions has Ben Carson held since leaving public office?

1. Boardroom résumé: claims about Kellogg and Costco

Biographical entries and institutional profiles list Ben Carson as having served on the boards of The Kellogg Company and Costco Wholesale Corporation; The HistoryMakers biography explicitly says he “serves on the board of directors of the Kellogg Company and Costco Wholesale Corporation,” and other corporate/board material repeats that he previously served on those boards ^{[1] [4]}. Available sources do not provide dates, terms, or whether those board roles continued or were resigned after his HUD tenure—those details are not found in current reporting ^{[1] [4]}.

2. Consulting and “special consultant” engagements

Company material shows Carson has worked in paid advisory or consultant capacities: Galectin Therapeutics lists him among special consultants engaged by the company, presenting him as a high-profile adviser and former HUD secretary ^[2]. Such corporate engagements are consistent with post-public-office activity by former officials, but available sources do not disclose contract dates, compensation levels, or the precise scope of his consultancy in those listings ^[2].

3. Paid speeches and past corporate ties (Mannatech example)

Profiles note a continuing relationship with supplement company Mannatech: Wikipedia’s entry reports that Mannatech paid Carson for speeches (a $42,000 speech in 2013) and used his image on its site as recently as 2014, and that the company had previously settled litigation over product claims ^[3]. That item documents at least one paid speaking engagement and an ongoing promotional tie, but available sources do not enumerate all post-office speaking fees or every corporate speaker engagement ^[3].

4. Media, foundations, and other private-sector activity

Biographical sources emphasize Carson’s ongoing role as an author, public speaker and founder of nonprofit initiatives such as the Carson Scholars Fund and other charitable projects; Britannica and White House biography material note his media work (e.g., Fox News commentator) and philanthropic organizations ^{[5] [6]}. These activities are part of his post-medical and post-government profile, but specific corporate positions beyond the board listings and consultancy engagements are not detailed in the available sources ^{[5] [6]}.

5. Gaps, contradictions and what the sources don’t say

The sources we have repeat certain corporate affiliations (Kellogg, Costco) and list consulting and speaking roles (Galectin, Mannatech), but they do not provide a comprehensive, dated list of every commercial role, compensation, or board-service timeline after 2017. For example, sources do not confirm whether board memberships continued during or after his HUD service, nor do they provide full disclosure of contract terms for consulting work—those specifics are not found in current reporting ^{[1] [4] [2] [3]}.

6. How to interpret competing signals

Institutional bios (The HistoryMakers, corporate sites) present Carson’s private-sector roles in straightforward terms—board member, consultant—while encyclopedic and journalistic entries add context (paid speeches, media roles, foundation leadership) and sometimes note controversies linked to corporate ties (Mannatech’s prior legal settlement). Read together, the record shows post-retirement and post-office activity spanning boards, paid speaking and consulting, but the public record in these sources is incomplete on dates and financial terms ^{[1] [2] [3]}.

If you want, I can: (a) extract exact quoted language from each source about a specific role, (b) search for dated corporate filings or SEC disclosures to confirm board tenures and resignation dates, or (c) compile a timeline limited strictly to items these sources name. Which would you prefer?