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

chief executive officer 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 ...

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

Worldwide Foods (1986–1990),

Westinghouse Electric Corporation The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was ...

(1993–1998),

CBS Corporation CBS Corporation was an American multinational media company with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing and television production. It was split from Viacom on December 31, 2005, alongside an entirely new Viacom; both ...

(1995–1998), and

Electronic Data Systems Electronic Data Systems (EDS) Corporation was an American multinational corporation, multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Plano, Texas, which was founded in 1962 by Ross Perot. The company was a s ...

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

Jordan was born in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, to Mary Virginia Witt and Hugh Franklin Jordan. He wed Kathryn Hiett in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, 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 New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Education

Jordan graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1957 with a B.S. in

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

, then earned a

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

in Chemical Engineering from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1959.

Naval career

Jordan was a member of the

Reserve Officers Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...

in college. In 1960, he joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

as a lieutenant and was selected by Admiral

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

to serve on his staff, which was developing America's

nuclear submarine A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion ...

force. He left

active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. Indian The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be one of the largest active service forces in the world, with almost 1.42 million Active Standin ...

in 1964.

Career

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

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...

. 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 A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, re ...

. He retired in July 1992 as Chairman 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 ...

's International Foods and Beverages Division. From 1992 to 1993, he became a principal of

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, LLC (CD&R) is an American private equity company. CD&R is the 24th oldest private equity firm in the world. CD&R has managed the investment of more than $30 billion in approximately 90 businesses, representing a bro ...

(CD&R), a private investment firm. In 1993, he was recruited as the first outside chairman and CEO of

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 CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

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. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, Californi ...

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

Dell Computer Corporation Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...

’s Board of Directors, where he served until 2003. From 1992 to 2007, he served on the Board of Directors at

Aetna Aetna Inc. ( ) is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans, ...

. After his retirement from

, Jordan became chairman of two companies, Luminant Worldwide Corporation 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 is the world's largest advertising company, as of 2023. WPP plc owns many companie ...

plc. He served on the board of the

Center for Excellence in Education The Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) is an American private nonprofit organization that seeks to help academically outstanding high school and college students achieve successful careers in science and technology and fulfill leadership ro ...

and was its chairman from 1988 to 1992. In 1986, he joined the Board of the

United Negro College Fund UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities. ...

, and from 1994 to 2004, he served as its Chairman. He was a member of the

Yale School of Management The Yale School of Management (also known as Yale SOM) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. The school awards the Master of Business Admi ...

Advisory Board and Chairman of the

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 Founded in 1914, the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) is an American government-funded trade association that advocates for an open, rule-based international trade system. Its stated goal is to serve its hundreds of member companies by provi ...

; a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

; a trustee of The

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...

; 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 United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

; 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 U.S. companies. Unlike the United States Chamber of Commerce, whose members are entire businesses, ...

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) CBS executives Paramount Global people