Miles D. White (born 1955) is an American businessman.Bloomberg BusinessWeek
/ref> He had a 38-year career with

Abbott Laboratories Abbott Laboratories is an American multinational medical devices and health care company with headquarters in Abbott Park, Illinois, United States. The company was founded by Chicago physician Wallace Calvin Abbott in 1888 to formulate known dr ...

, most prominently being CEO between 1999 and 2020.

Early life and education

Miles White was born in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. He went to Culver Military Academy at age 13. He holds two degrees from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA.Forbes 2012 compensation
/ref>

Career

White started his career as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. He joined Abbott in 1984, serving there in management positions including Senior Vice President of Diagnostic Operations and Executive Vice President. He was elected to the board of directors in April 1998, to chief executive officer in 1999, and to chairman of the board in April 1999. As of November 2019, White's tenure is the second longest for a non-founder CEO among the S&P 100. Under his leadership, he has created approximately $200 billion in shareholder value. White has been praised for the ability to position Abbott to be able to adapt to patient and consumer needs and creating a diverse culture at the company. He has also been praised for increasing the global stature and valuation of Abbott and expanding the company's worldwide sales. He has created two public companies as the CEO of Abbott: AbbVie and Hospira. Hospira was later purchased by

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

for $16 billion. In 2017, White earned $1.9 million in base compensation and over $13.5 million in bonuses, stocks, options, and other compensation. He ranked 72 in a list of highest-paid executives at

S&P 500 The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices. As of D ...

companies for the 2017 fiscal year. In November 2019, White announced that he would be stepping down from his role as chief executive officer at Abbott on March 31, 2020, while remaining executive chairman on the company's board. He stepped down from the board of directors in December 2021. White currently serves on the board of directors of

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

and

Caterpillar Inc Caterpillar Inc. (stock symbol CAT) is an American Fortune 100, ''Fortune'' 500 corporation and the world's largest construction-equipment manufacturer. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 65 on the ''Fortune'' 500 list and number 238 on the ...

. He is a former chairman of the

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (informally the Chicago Fed) is one of twelve regional Reserve Banks that, along with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, make up the United States' central bank. The Chicago Reserve Bank serves the Sevent ...

, the Economic Club of Chicago, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. He is the chairman of the board of trustees of the Culver Educational Foundation and is on the board of trustees of

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. He was also named a “Life Member” of Northwestern’s business school the

Kellogg School of Management The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (also known as Kellogg) is the business school of Northwestern University, a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1908, Kellogg is one of the oldest and most p ...

. White is a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

and formerly served as chairman of the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

board of trustees.

Awards

White has been listed in

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

' list of America's Most Powerful People and its America's Most Innovative Leaders. He was also recognized as one of the world's "30 Best CEOs" by '' Barron's'' for 11 consecutive years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Miles D. 1955 births Living people Businesspeople from Minneapolis Culver Academies alumni Stanford University alumni McKinsey & Company people McDonald's people Abbott Laboratories people Caterpillar Inc. people Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences