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, in the United States. The company was founded by Chicago physician Wallace Calvin Abbott in 1888 to formulate k ...

, most prominently being CEO between 1999 and 2020.

Early life and education

Miles White was born in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

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

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, 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 CEO 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 The Standard and Poor's 100, or simply the S&P 100, is a stock market index of United States stocks maintained by Standard & Poor's. The S&P 100 is a subset of the S&P 500 and the S&P 1500, and holds stocks that tend to be the largest and most ...

. 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 AbbVie Inc. is an American pharmaceutical company headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. It is ranked sixth on the list of largest biomedical companies by revenue. In 2023, the company's seat in Forbes Global 2000 was 74, and rank 89 on the ...

and Hospira. Hospira was later purchased by

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...

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 leading companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices and in ...

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, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

and

Caterpillar Inc Caterpillar Inc., also known as Cat, is an American construction, mining and other engineering equipment manufacturer. The company is the world's largest manufacturer of construction equipment. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 73 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 Federal Reserve Banks that, along with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, make up the Federal Reserve System, the United States' central bank. The Chicago Fed ...

, the Economic Club of Chicago, and the

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA, pronounced ), formerly known as the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, is an American trade group representing companies in the pharmaceutical industry. Founded in 1958, PhRMA ...

. 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 (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

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

Kellogg School of Management The Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management (branded as Northwestern Kellogg) is the graduate business school of Northwestern University, a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois. History Early ...

. White is a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) 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 other ...

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 educationa ...

board of trustees.

Awards and achievements

White has been listed in

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

' 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 ''Barron's'' (stylized in all caps) is an American weekly magazine and newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corp, since 1921. Founded as ''Barron's National Financial Weekly'' in 1921 by Clarence W. Barron (1855–19 ...

'' for 11 consecutive years. In 2004, White was initiated as a member of

Tau Kappa Epsilon Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, maki ...

fraternity at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Miles D. 1955 births Abbott Laboratories people Doug Burgum Businesspeople from Minneapolis Caterpillar Inc. people Culver Academies alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Living people McDonald's people McKinsey & Company people People associated with the 2024 United States presidential election Stanford University alumni