The youngest in a family of six children, Hobson graduated from St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago in 1987 and from Princeton University in 1991.

Soon after her graduation from Princeton, Hobson joined Ariel Investments, a Chicago investment firm that manages nearly $13 billion in assets. as an intern. She rose to become the firm’s senior vice president and director of marketing. In 2000, she ascended to become the company’s president. It is also one of the largest African American-owned money management and mutual fund companies in the United States. She was a contributor to financial segments on Good Morning America for many years.

Hobson began dating film director and producer George Lucas in 2006, after they met at a business conference. Hobson and Lucas announced their engagement in January 2013, and were married on June 22, 2013, at Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch. They have one daughter together, Everest Hobson Lucas, who was born via surrogacy in August 2013.

Hobson created and hosted a show on ABC on May 29, 2009, called Unbroke: What You Need to Know About Money, featuring celebrities such as the Jonas Brothers, Oscar the Grouch and Samuel L. Jackson.

In 2017, Hobson was named to head the Economic Club of Chicago, the first African-American woman to do so.

On August 6, 2017, Hobson guest hosted CBS Sunday Morning’s annual “Money Issue” episode.

She appeared on the Jack Good Show in August 2017, where she accepted the City of Birmingham’s deepest appreciation for her charitable work with Birmingham’s Bright Leaders of Tomorrow.

On June 4, 2018, Hobson was named as Vice-Chair of Starbucks Corporation.

Mellody Hobson was inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State’s highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 2018.

On October 8, 2020, Mellody Hobson and the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation made the lead gift to establish a new residential college at Princeton University. Hobson College will be the first residential college at Princeton named for a Black woman and will be built on the site of First College, formerly known as Wilson College.