People in the News

People in the News

On 1 February 1992 Ron Carey was sworn in as the first Teamsters (International Brotherhood of Teamsters) president elected by the rank and file of the union.

In 1993 James Champy's and Michael Hammer's book, Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for the Business Revolution was published; it quickly became the "downsizer's bible."

In April 1998 Robert L. Crandall retired as president of American Airlines; during his eighteen-year tenure the airlines initiated such innovations as frequent-flyer miles and super-saver fares.

In 1995 Millard S. Drexler took over the clothing chain Gap, Inc.; by 1999 he had turned the once-stagnant company around, posting profits around 30 percent above average, at a time when many retail stores were only averaging 5 percent above normal profits.

On 16 March 1992 Robert J. Eaton, head of the profitable European operations of General Motors Corporation, joined auto manufacturer Chrysler Corporation as successor to Chairman Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca.

In 1997 New Jersey businessman Charles F. Feeney reportedly had in the last decade given away more than $600 million to charity; another $3.5 billion, almost the entire sum of Feeney's estimated wealth, had also been turned over to his two charitable foundations. Remarkably, Feeney had made the contributions anonymously.

In December 1995, after a fire swept through three factories of Maiden Mills Industries, CEO Aaron Feuerstein, grandson of the founder, announced that the company would continue to pay employees wages for three months and insurance benefits for nine months, costing the company some $10 million; the facilities returned to full productive capacity within ninety days.

In July 1996 Forbes announced that William Henry "Bill" Gates III was the richest man in the world with an estimated personal worth of $12.9 billion.

In May 1998 Andrew S. Grove, cofounder and CEO of Intel, stepped down; during Grove's tenure Intel emerged as the leading computer-chip maker in the world.

On 15 April 1992 hotel tycoon Leona Helmsley began serving a four-year prison sentence for tax evasion; she was released after serving eighteen months.

On 14 May 1992 Lee Iacocca, CEO of Chrysler Corporation, announced that he would step down from the post at the end of the year.

Karen L. Katen assumed control of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in 1995; during her tenure as president, the drug company emerged as one of the leading companies in the United States with the introduction of breakout pharmaceuticals such as the anti-impotence drug Viagra.

In 1994 Todd Krizelman and Stephan Paternot, both students at Cornell University, created theglobe.com, which would become one of the more successful Internet ventures; when the company went public on 13 November 1998, it was valued at $35 million.

In October 1997 Robert C. Merton and Myron S. Scholes won the Nobel Prize in economics for their creation of a formula used for the valuation of stock options. [Other American Nobel Prize winners for economics during the decade included Harry M. Markowitz (1990), Merton H. Miller (1991), William R Sharpe (1991), Gary S. Becker (1992), Robert W.Fogel (1993), Douglass C. North (1993), John C. Harsanyi (1994), John F. Nash Jr. (1994), Robert E. Lucas Jr. (1995), and William S. Vickrey (1996).]

On 2 April 1993 U.S. tobacco giant Philip Morris, under the direction of CEO Michael Miles, cut the price of its "branded" cigarettes by 25 percent; the move prompted the day to be dubbed as "Marlboro Friday"; Miles resigned a year later.

On 24 April 1990 junk-bond king Michael R. Milken avoided trial on insider trading and racketeering charges by pleading guilty to six less serious felony violations and agreeing to pay fines and penalties totaling $600 million.

In March 1998 Marilyn Carlson Nelson became CEO of Carlson Companies, a Minneapolis-based leisure travel agency; under her leadership, Carlson became one of the largest travel agencies in the world, increasing its business by 200 percent.

In October 1999 entrepreneur Martha Stewart's company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, in an initial public offering (IPO) on Wall Street, surged to a 98 percent gain on the New York Stock Exchange, handily beating the World Wrestling Federation, which gained only 48 percent on the Nasdaq.

On 14 June 1996 Stephen P. Yokich was elected president of the United Auto Workers (UAW) at the triennial convention of the union in Anaheim, California.