Murray S. Kessler is an American businessman. He has worked in the food, tobacco and pharmaceutical industries. He retired as President and Chief Executive Officer of Perrigo, a consumer OTC self-care company in 2023. Previously, he was President, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the

Lorillard Tobacco Company Lorillard Tobacco Company was an American tobacco company that marketed cigarettes under the brand names Newport (cigarette), Newport, Maverick (cigarette), Maverick, Old Gold (cigarette), Old Gold, Kent (cigarette), Kent, True (cigarette), True, ...

before it was purchased by

Reynolds American Reynolds American, Inc. is an American tobacco company which is a subsidiary of British American Tobacco and is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States. Its holdings include R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, American Snuff Compan ...

. Before that he was President, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of UST, Inc. Kessler also served as the President of the

United States Equestrian Federation The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF or US Equestrian) is the national Sport governing body, governing body for most Equestrianism, equestrian sports in the United States. It began on January 20, 1917, as the Association of American Hor ...

, the national governing body for equestrian sports in the United States.

Early life

He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

and a Master of Business Administration in marketing and finance from the

New York University Stern School of Business The Leonard N. Stern School of Business (also NYU Stern, Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. Founded as the School of Commerce, Accounts ...

Career

He started his career at the

Campbell Soup Company The Campbell's Company (doing business as Campbell's and formerly known as the Campbell Soup Company) is an American company, most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products. The classic red-and-white can design used by many Campbe ...

() and

Clorox The Clorox Company (formerly Clorox Chemical Company) is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products. As of 2024, the Oakland, California-based company had approximately 8,000 employees worldwide. N ...

(). He served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Pace Foods, a division of Campbell Soup, from September 1995 to October 1997. He served as General Manager of the

Swanson Swanson is a brand of TV dinners, broths, and canned poultry made for the North American and Hong Kong markets. The former Swanson Company was founded in Omaha, Nebraska, where it developed improvements of the frozen dinner. The TV dinner busi ...

Division of Campbell Soup from October 1997 to March 1998. He served as Vice President of

Pinnacle Foods Pinnacle Foods, Inc., is a packaged foods company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey that specializes in shelf-stable and frozen foods. The company became a subsidiary of Conagra Brands on October 26, 2018. History The company was foun ...

() from March 1998 to December 1999. He served as President of the

U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company (formerly United States Tobacco Company) is an American company that manufactures smokeless tobacco products, notably dipping tobacco, as well as chewing tobacco, snus, and dry snuff. The company is a subsidiary o ...

(UST) from April 2000 to October 2005, and as its President and Chief Operating Officer from November 2005 to December 2006. He served as its President and Chief Executive Officer from January 2007 to 2009. Additionally, from 2008 to 2009, he served as its chairman. From 2009 to 2010, he served as vice chair of

Altria Altria Group, Inc. (previously known as Philip Morris Companies, Inc. until 2003) is an American corporation and one of the world's largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes, and medical products in the treatment of illnesses ca ...

(). In September 2010, he joined the Lorillard Tobacco Company as president and chief executive officer, as well as member of its board of directors, replacing Martin L. Orlowsky. Additionally, he has served as its chairman since January 1, 2011. Kessler was the president and chief executive officer of Perrigo, a global consumer self-care company. He joined the company in October 8, 2018. The company is one of the manufacturers of over-the-counter (OTC) self-care products in North America, and offers branded product lines in Europe and other markets. He retired from the company in June 2023. Soon after, Perrigo announced a global restructuring called 'Project Energize'. He married his wife Sarah in 2019. His daughter,

Reed Kessler Reed Catherine Kessler (born July 9, 1994) is a former American show jumping competitor previously based in Europe. At 18 years old, Kessler qualified for the 2012 London Olympics, becoming at the time, the youngest rider to compete in show jum ...

, competed as a show jumper for the United States Equestrian team at the London 2012 Olympics.

Politics

In 2012, he donated money to

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

for the presidency,

Chris Shays Christopher Hunter Shays (born October 18, 1945) is an American politician. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives as representative of the 4th District of Connecticut from 1987 to 2009. He is a member of the Repub ...

for congressman,

Howard Coble John Howard Coble (March 18, 1931 – November 3, 2015) was an American politician who was the U.S. representative for , serving from 1985 to 2015. He was a member of the Republican Party. The district includes all or portions of ten counties in ...

for senator, George Allen for senator,

Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (; born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky, a seat he has held since 1985. McConnell is in his seventh Senate term and is the long ...

for senator, as well as Democrats like

Kay Hagan Janet Kay Hagan (née Ruthven; May 26, 1953 – October 28, 2019) was an American lawyer, banking executive, and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States Senator from North Carolina from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democr ...

for Senator, and

Susan Bysiewicz Susan Bysiewicz ( ; born September 29, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the 109th lieutenant governor of Connecticut since 2019. She previously served as the 72nd secretary of the state of Connecticut from 1999 to 2 ...

for Secretary of State of Connecticut.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kessler, Murray S. Living people Villanova University alumni New York University Stern School of Business alumni American chief executives Altria Lorillard Tobacco Company Year of birth missing (living people)