Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> October 27, 1997
ALBERT J. DUNLAP was elected Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and
director of Sunbeam Corporation on July 18th, 1996. On the naming of Mr.
Dunlap as Sunbeam's new leader, the Company's stock price jumped 59%
overnight, representing what is believed to be the single biggest
increase in New York Stock Exchange history based solely on the naming
of a new CEO. Mr. Dunlap has previously engineered eight extremely
successful turnarounds in his career, most notable, his recent
turnaround of Scott Paper Company. In the first nineteen months of Mr.
Dunlap's tenure at Scott, that Company's stock price increased 220%,
from under $19 (post-split) to approximately $61 per share, creating
more than $6.5 billion in additional shareholder value. This price
performance ranked in the top 1% of major New York Stock Exchange
companies. Mr. Dunlap is also an author and his major national best
selling business book, "Mean Business: How I Save Bad Companies and Make
Good Companies Great", was published in the late summer of 1996. The
book provides great insight into Mr. Dunlap's management style as well
as his personal accounts of the eight major companies he has
successfully turned around. A graduate of the United States Military
Academy at West Point, Mr. Dunlap was a qualified paratrooper and served
as executive officer of a nuclear missile site before starting his
business career as a trainee with Kimberly-Clark Corporation in 1963.
Innovations & Achievements - Mr. Dunlap has accumulated 32 years of
technical, operating and leadership experience in the paper, packaging
and consumer products industries. He has been instrumental in the
development of many new, innovative products: At Sterling Pulp and paper
Company, he was credited with the introduction of the first private
label diaper; As senior vice president of American Can Company, Mr.
Dunlap was the leader in the development of the plastic catsup bottle;
As chairman and CEO of Lily-Tulip Company, he rescued the company from
near-financial collapse by rebuilding the business, developing the
highly successful Trophy cup and taking the company public. During Mr.
Dunlap's tenure, the company's shares increased in value by more than
1,100%; Under his leadership at Scott, the company embarked on a massive
product and marketing overhaul. One hundred-seven new products
initiatives were introduced in 1995, including new packaging designs,
new advertising campaigns and product innovations. Career Highlights -
Mr. Dunlap was selected by Sir James Goldsmith to be chairman and CEO of
Sir James' global holdings, which included investments in Diamond
International and Crown-Zellerbach.
His achievements in the turnaround of these assets were widely
acclaimed. Concurrently, he served as chairman and CEO of GOSL
Acquisition Corp. (timber, oil and gas operations), Anglo Group, PLC and
Gyrestar, Inc. Their successful eight-year relationship is chronicled in
the book Billionaire, by Ivan Fallon. Mr. Dunlap currently serves as a
director of General Oriental Investments, Limited, which is controlled
by Sir James Goldsmith. As CEO and managing director of Consolidated
Press Holdings (CPH), one of Australia's largest corporations, he
engineered one of the best corporate performances in Australia before
returning to the United States in 1993. CPH is involved in television,
magazine publishing, chemical and pastoral operations. More recently,
Mr. Dunlap was responsible for the dramatic turnaround of Scott Paper
Company, leading its transformation from a paper company to a fast-
moving consumer products company. With the overriding objective on
increasing shareholder value, he presided over the largest corporate
restructuring in Corporate America and refocused the Company's
strategies on growing its core tissue business on a global basis.
Culminating the turnaround, Mr. Dunlap was the architect of the merger
between Scott Paper and Kimberly-Clark. This major created the second
largest consumer products company in the U.S. with 1995 revenue
approaching $12 billion. Wake-up Call for Corporate America - Mr. Dunlap
has been praised by Wall Street analysts and leading business media for
his commitment to shareholders. He has been a leading advocate on
director compensation reforms and has made creating value for the
shareholders his number one priority. Mr. Dunlap has appeared on
numerous television programs to discuss these topics and has delivered
speeches at renowned institutions including the Harvard and Wharton
business schools. As a result of his efforts, he received an honorary
Doctorate of Law degree form Stetson University College of Law and an
honorary Doctorate of Engineering from Stevens institute of Technology.
Additionally, in 1995, he served as a Commissioner on the National
Association of Corporate Directors' (NACD) Blue Ribbon Commission on
Director Compensation. For his achievements in 1994 at Scott Paper, he
was named "CEO of The Year" for the non-drug, non-cosmetic health
companies by Financial World magazine and voted "most admired" for his
category in a survey of chief executives from 3,300 companies. In June
of 1995, Mr. Dunlap was elected to the Board of Trustees of Talladega
College, historically black college located in Talladega, Alabama, which
boasts an impressive academic tradition, as 85% of the school's
graduates continue their education in pursuit of graduate or
professional degrees. Mr. Dunlap, his wife Judy and their dogs, Brit and
Cadet, live in Boca Raton, Florida. Profile
company is doing today.
Mr. Dunlap: I've been with the company now one year since July 18th,
1996. We've made massive
