Frederick Ross Johnson, OC (December 13, 1931 – December 29, 2016) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

businessman, best known as the chief executive officer of

RJR Nabisco R. J. Reynolds Nabisco, Inc., doing business as RJR Nabisco, was an American conglomerate, selling tobacco and food products, headquartered in the Calyon Building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. R. J. Reynolds Nabisco stopped ...

in the 1980s.

Early life and education

Born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, on December 13, 1931, into a lower-middle-class family, Johnson used a military cadet scholarship program to attend the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

, where he graduated in 1952 with a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

degree and was President of the

fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded in 1848, and currently headquartered, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, alo ...

. He went on to earn an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in 1956.

Career

Johnson first worked as an

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certif ...

for

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and as a vice-president of

merchandising Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...

for the T. Eaton Company before being named president of

Standard Brands Standard Brands was a packaged foods company, formed in 1929 by J. P. Morgan & Co. with the merger of: * Fleischmann Company *Royal Baking Powder Company * E. W. Gillett Company of Canada (1929) - Toronto-based baking goods company (maker of Ma ...

Ltd. Johnson negotiated a

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

between Standard Brands and Nabisco with Nabisco CEO Bob Schaeberle in 1981. Soon after, Schaeberle left Nabisco, and Johnson took the helm, replacing many Nabisco executives with ones from Standard Brands. Growing restless, he initiated talks that led to the Nabisco-RJ Reynolds merger in 1985. He was soon appointed president and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. Johnson appeared on the December 5, 1988, cover of ''Time'' magazine under the headline "A Game of Greed". After dismal stock performance following the

1987 stock market crash Black Monday (also known as Black Tuesday in some parts of the world due to time zone differences) was a global, severe and largely unexpected stock market crash on Monday, October 19, 1987. Worldwide losses were estimated at US$1.71 trillion. ...

, Johnson decided to put the company in play. Originally, he planned to execute a management-led

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money (Leverage (finance), leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of t ...

with Shearson Lehman Hutton. Events quickly escalated into a takeover contest. He was extensively profiled in the book '' Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco'' by ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' columnists Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, and in the movie of the same name made for

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

. In the film, Johnson was portrayed by

James Garner James Scott Garner (né Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, which included ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Ch ...

. Following the RJR Nabisco takeover by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. led by

Henry Kravis Henry Roberts Kravis (born January 6, 1944) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. Until he resigned in March 2009, he was chairman of AuthentiDate Holding Corp., a United States publicly traded company. He served on the board of directors of several companies including Bentley Pharmaceuticals. Johnson also served on the advisory board of

Power Corporation of Canada Power Corporation of Canada is a management and holding company that focuses on financial services in North America, Europe and Asia. Its core holdings are insurance, retirement, wealth management and investment management, including a portfolio ...

Personal life

Johnson maintained homes in

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

and

Jupiter, Florida Jupiter is the northernmost town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 US Census, the town had a population of 61,047. It is 84 miles north of Miami and 15 miles north of West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach. ...

.Parker, Charles Whatley; and Greene, Barnet M
"F. Ross Johnson"
''Who's Who in Canada: An Illustrated Biographical Record of Men and Women of the Time, Volume 73'', p. 421, International Press Limited., 1982. . Accessed June 28, 2011. "Residence: 210 East Mountain Road, Sparta, New Jersey 07871". He was made a trustee of

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

and served on the advisory councils of several universities. The Distinguished Visitors Program at the

Centre for the Study of the United States was endowed by Johnson in 2001.

Death

Johnson died on December 29, 2016, at his home in

, seventeen days after his 85th birthday from pneumonia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, F. Ross 1931 births 2016 deaths American tobacco industry executives Businesspeople from Winnipeg Officers of the Order of Canada People from Sparta, New Jersey R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Canadian chief executives Duke University trustees Phi Delta Theta members