Michael H. Jordan (June 13, 1936 – May 25, 2010) was an American businessman. He served as the chief executive officer of

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

Worldwide Foods (1986–1990), Westinghouse Electric Corporation (1993–1998), CBS Corporation (1995–1998), and

Electronic Data Systems Electronic all cash BSN acc: 1311729000110205 Data Systems (EDS) was an American multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Plano, Texas which was founded in 1962 by Ross Perot. The company was a subs ...

(2003–2007).Answers.com Business Biographies
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Personal life

Jordan was born in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, to Mary Virginia Witt and Hugh Franklin Jordan. He wed Kathryn Hiett in Toledo, Ohio, on April 8, 1961. Married for 38 years, Kim gave birth to two children, Kathryn (Kate Donaldson) and Stephen. The marriage ended in divorce. He met and later married Hilary Cecil, an executive recruiter, on March 4, 2000 in New York City.

Education

Jordan graduated from Yale University in 1957 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, then earned a

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University in 1959.

Naval career

Jordan was a member of the Reserve Officers Training Corps in college. In 1960, he joined the United States Navy as a lieutenant and was selected by Admiral

Hyman G. Rickover Hyman G. Rickover (January 27, 1900 – July 8, 1986) was an admiral in the U.S. Navy. He directed the original development of naval nuclear propulsion and controlled its operations for three decades as director of the U.S. Naval Reactors offic ...

to serve on his staff, which was developing America's nuclear submarine force. He left active duty in 1964.

Career

From 1964 to 1974, Jordan served as consultant and principal at

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

. Michael joined

in 1974, where he held various senior executive positions. Among the positions he held at the company were president of the International Foods and Beverages Division and CFO. He retired in July 1992 as Chairman and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

's International Foods and Beverages Division. From 1992 to 1993, he became a principal of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), a private investment firm. In 1993, he was recruited as the first outside Chairman and CEO of Westinghouse Electric Corporation headquartered in Pittsburgh. He led the company through one of the most comprehensive transformations of a major U.S. corporation, including its purchase of CBS Corporation, as the company was renamed. He retired from CBS in December 1998, became a private investor and authored a mystery novel. In 2003, the board of

asked Jordan to lead the company. As Chairman and CEO, he led a financial and operational turnaround. In 2007, he stepped down as head of Electronic Data Systems but remained with the company as Chairman Emeritus until it was purchased by

Hewlett Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

in 2008. Jordan served on several corporate, private and non-profit boards. In 1992, he joined the

Dell Computer Corporation Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data s ...

’s Board of Directors, where he served until 2003. From 1992 to 2007, he served on the Board of Directors at Aetna. After his retirement from CBS, Jordan became chairman of two companies,

Luminant Worldwide Corporation Luminant is a Texas-based electric utility. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Future Holdings Corporation. Luminant's operations include electricity generation and wholesaling, mining, construction, and development. The company has cap ...

in Dallas, where he served from 1999 to 2001, and eOriginal Inc., a Baltimore company on whose board he remained. He also served on the boards of several smaller, privately held companies, including BlackLight Power, Inc. (now Brilliant Light Power, Inc.) located in Cranbury, NJ. He was also a board member of

WPP Group WPP plc is a British multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology, and commerce holding company headquartered in London, England. It was the world's largest advertising company, as of 2019. WPP plc owns many compan ...

plc. He served on the board of the Center for Excellence in Education and was its chairman from 1988 to 1992. In 1986, he joined the Board of the United Negro College Fund, and from 1994 to 2004, he served as its Chairman. He was a member of the Yale School of Management Advisory Board and Chairman of the Yale University Council Committee on Engineering and Applied Science. Michael was a member of the President's Export Council under the Clinton Administration, and chairman of its Subcommittee on Export Administration. He was a member of the Council of Retired Chief Executives, a former chairman of the National Foreign Trade Council; a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

; a trustee of The Brookings Institution; a member and former chairman of the U.S.-Japan Business Council; a former member of The Business Council; a member of the board of trustees of the

United States Council for International Business The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) is an independent business advocacy group that was founded in 1945 to promote free trade and help represent U.S. business in the then-new United Nations. One of its primary goals is expand ...

; a member of the International Advisory Board of British-American Business Inc.; and a former member of the

Business Roundtable The Business Roundtable (BRT) is a nonprofit lobbyist association based in Washington, D.C. whose members are chief executive officers of major United States companies. Unlike the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, whose members are entire businesses, BRT ...

Death

He died of

neuroendocrine cancer Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are neoplasms that arise from cells of the endocrine (hormonal) and nervous systems. They most commonly occur in the intestine, where they are often called carcinoid tumors, but they are also found in the pancreas, lun ...

on May 25, 2010, at the age of 73.

Other

Bloomberg Business Week: Executive Profile.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Michael H. 1936 births 2010 deaths American businesspeople Yale University alumni Princeton University alumni Deaths from cancer in New York (state)