Michael P. Sullivan (born 1934) is an American attorney and former President of

Dairy Queen Dairy Queen (DQ) is an American chain of soft serve ice cream and fast food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc. (a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway since 1998) which also owns Orange Julius, and formerly owned Karmelkorn and G ...

Career

Sullivan is a graduate of

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

and

University of Minnesota Law School The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the University of Minnesota, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school confers four law degrees: a Juris Doctor (J.D.), a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Science in Patent Law ...

and former Naval officer. Sullivan practiced business and franchise law at

Gray Plant Mooty Gray Plant Mooty (Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty & Bennett, P.A.) was the oldest continuing law practice in Minneapolis with offices in Minneapolis, MN, St. Cloud, MN, Fargo, ND and Washington, D.C. History Gray Plant Mooty was founded in Minneapolis in ...

for 25 years prior to becoming the CEO of Dairy Queen, including 10 years as the firm's managing officer. Sullivan guided Dairy Queen from 1987 to 2001, and battled

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 ...

Wendy's Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was the ...

, and

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

in the

fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredien ...

market. He also resolved internal problems with Dairy Queen distributors. Sullivan sold Dairy Queen to

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...

and

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from ...

in 1998. Sullivan also served as a Director of The Valspar Corporation from 1990 to February 2005. In 2005, he was named the Opus Distinguished Chair in Family Business at the University of St. Thomas College of Business. Sullivan currently serves as Director of Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America and Adler Trust Company.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Michael P. Minnesota lawyers American chief executives of food industry companies Marquette University alumni University of Minnesota Law School alumni 1934 births Living people