Ralph S. Larsen

Ralph Larsen (born 1938) is an American businessman.[1][2][3] He served as the Chief Executive Officer of Johnson & Johnson from 1989 to 2002.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Biography

Early life

Ralph Larsen was born in Brooklyn, New York City in a family of five siblings in 1938.[8][3] His father was a first-generation immigrant from Norway.[8] He joined the United States Navy for a few years. He worked his way through college, taking electrical jobs, and he received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Hofstra University in 1962.[1][2][3][4][5][7][8]

Career

He joined Johnson & Johnson as a trainee in 1962, where he worked until 1981.[1][2][7][8] From 1981 to 1983, he worked as President of consumer products at Becton Dickinson.[1][4][5][6][7] In 1983, he re-joined Johnson & Johnson as President of Chicopee until 1986, and he was Vice Chairman of the corporation until 1989.[1][4][5] He served as CEO from 1989 to 2002.[1][2][4][5][6] From 1994 to 1999, he reduced the annual operating costs to $2 billion, making the Johnson & Johnson more competitive.[3] He also produced a consecutive string of 25% shareholder return rates.[3]

He serves on the Board of Directors of General Electric and AT&T.[1][4] From 1998 to 2000, he served on the Board of Xerox.[1][2][5][6][7] He served on the International Advisory Board of Salomon Smith Barney.[1] From 1999 to 2000, he served as Chairman of The Business Council.[1]

He is a Republican.[1] He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[1][6] He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.[1][2][4][5][6]

Personal life

He is married to Dorothy Zeitfuss, and they have three children.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 nndb
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Forbes
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Harvard Business School profile
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 The Wall Street Journal biography
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 General Electric biography
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation biography
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 BusinessWeek
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Claudia T. Deutsch, NEW CHIEF: Ralph S. Larsen; Taking the Reins From a Legend, The New York Times, October 30, 1988
Business positions
Preceded by
James E. Burke		 President of Johnson & Johnson
1989-2002 		Succeeded by
William C. Weldon