Thomas John Rattigan (born 20 July 1937, in Boston) is an American businessman.

Early life

Rattigan earned a BS at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

in 1960 and an MBA at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

in 1962. He joined

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 ...

in 1970 where he rose to the position of CEO of PepsiCo International in 1982. In 1985

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

, an early producer of home computers, hired Rattigan as COO intending to prepare him to become CEO (competitor

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Co ...

had hired Pepsi president

John Sculley John Sculley III (born April 6, 1939) is an American businessman, entrepreneur and investor in high-tech startups. Sculley was vice-president (1970–1977) and president of PepsiCo (1977–1983), until he became chief executive officer (CEO) ...

in 1983). In 1986 Rattigan took over as CEO from Marshall F. Smith. He continued the downsizing his predecessor had initiated, cut unprofitable product lines and initiated the development of two more models of Commodore's flagship

Amiga 1000 The Amiga 1000, also known as the A1000, is the first personal computer released by Commodore International in the Amiga line. It combines the 16/32-bit Motorola 68000 CPU which was powerful by 1985 standards with one of the most advanced grap ...

computer. Despite turning the company from a US$237 million three-quarter loss to a $22 million profit in one quarter, Rattigan was fired by major shareholder

Irving Gould Irving Gould (1919–2004) was a Canadian businessman credited with both saving and sinking Commodore. Commodore was originally formed in Canada and initially produced mechanical typewriters and calculators. In 1965, Jack Tramiel, Commodore's fou ...

, who temporarily took over as CEO. Rattigan sued Commodore for $9 million of lost income, due to the breach of contract. Rattigan won the suit. In 1991 Rattigan was appointed by the court as CEO of G. Heileman Brewing Co. He steered the company through

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

and left in 1994, pocketing almost $20 million in severance pay. "You can't say he did a terrible job with Heileman. But he certainly didn't turn it around",

PaineWebber PaineWebber & Co. was an American investment bank and stock brokerage firm that was acquired by the Swiss bank UBS in 2000. The company was founded in 1880 in Boston, Massachusetts, by William A. Paine and Wallace G. Webber. Operating with two e ...

analyst Goldman told the

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 ...

in 1996. In 1996 and 1997 Rattigan headed financier

Carl Icahn Carl Celian Icahn (; born February 16, 1936) is an American businessman and investor. He is the founder and controlling shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, a public company and diversified conglomerate holding company based in Sunny Isles Beach, ...

's slate for the

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 ...

board, netting him $2 million in salary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rattigan, Thomas Living people 1937 births American chief executives of food industry companies Harvard Business School alumni PepsiCo people Boston College alumni