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Bill Weldon, Johnson & Johnson CEO, Resigns

Feb 21, 2012 | About:
Johnson & Johnson issued a press release on Tuesday stating the following:

William Weldon, current Chairman and CEO, will relinquish the CEO position on April 26th; he will remain Chairman of the Board.

Alex Gorsky (age 51), currently the Vice Chairman of the Company's Executive Committee with responsibility for the Medical Devices and Diagnostics Group, will take over as CEO on that same day. He will become the seventh CEO in the company’s history, dating back to 1886; he will be nominated to the Board at the 2012 Shareholder Meeting.

"Alex is an experienced, visionary and disciplined leader," Mr. Weldon said. "I look forward to the transition of leadership and to a bright future for Johnson & Johnson."

The news comes after years of struggles at JNJ due to product recalls. Mr. Weldon was named CEO and Chairman in January of 2002; during his tenure as chief executive, the stock price increased by just 14%, largely due to the valuation in the early 2000's. Over that same period, EPS increased by roughly 9% per annum.

LINK TO SEC FILING

About the author:


I'm a value investor, with a focus on patience; I wait for great companies that are suffering from short term issues, and load up when those opportunities become present.

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Comments

kfh227
Kfh227 premium member - Feb 21, 2012 at 6:34 PM
JNJ was overvalued in 2002. The only reason for the bad performance was this simple fact.
The Science of Hitting
The Science of Hitting premium member - Feb 21, 2012 at 7:21 PM
Assuming you meant 2002? Added a note to allude to that fact; thanks Kfh227
kfh227
Kfh227 premium member - Feb 21, 2012 at 9:02 PM
Yes, meant 2002. Fixed it ;-)

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