Albert J. Dunlap
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Albert John Dunlap (born July 26, 1937) in Hoboken, New Jersey is a professional corporate downsizer popularly known as "Chainsaw Al" and "Rambo in Pinstripes".
Dunlap is a West Point graduate who apprenticed under Sir James Goldsmith and Kerry Packer before taking the reins of Lily Tulip Cup and Scott Paper.
By firing thousands of employees at once and closing plants and factories, he has drastically altered the economic status of such corporations as Scott Paper and Crown-Zellerbach; however, when he attempted to use his methods to increase the share price of the Sunbeam-Oster Corporation, this backfired dramatically, as Sunbeam's stock rose from $12 a share to $53, and then within four months plummeted to $11 1/4.
Industry insiders revealed that Sunbeam's revenues had been padded because Dunlap had given large discounts to retailers who bought far more merchandise than they could handle; the excess merchandise was shipped to warehouses to be delivered later, but the sales revenue was booked immediately. With the stores hopelessly overstocked, unsold inventory piled up in Sunbeam's warehouses. Investors grew edgy, then panicky, and Dunlap himself was fired. He agreed to pay $15 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit [1].
A documentary film was made about Dunlap in 1998 called Cutting to the Core—Albert J. Dunlap [2].
Dunlap and his second wife Judy maintain homes in Ocala, Florida and Northern Wisconsin. They are major benefactors of the Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala.
[edit] Publications
- Mean Business: How I Save Bad Companies and Make Good Companies Great Albert J. Dunlap with Bob Andelman, Fireside (1997) ISBN 0-684-84406-0
- Chainsaw: The Notorious Career of Al Dunlap in the Era of Profit-at-Any-Price John A. Byrne, Collins (October 1, 1999) ISBN 0-06-661980-7
