Peter W. May, A.B. ’64, M.B.A.
’65
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BEHIND THE CAMPAIGN
Peter W. May, A.B. ’64, M.B.A.
’65
Age: 58
Campaign Contribution: $5 million
Current Position: President and chief operating officer, Triarc Companies, New York City
Career Highlights: May began his career in accounting at Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Company, now KPMG, then moved to Flagstaff Corporation, where he served as vice president of finance and later as executive vice president and treasurer. As president and chief operating officer of Triangle Industries, he and partner Nelson Peltz managed the company’s growth from $264 million in net sales in 1983 to $4.5 billion in net sales in 1988. At that time, Triangle Industries was the world’s largest packaging company and the 98th largest industrial company in the United States, as ranked by Fortune magazine. Today, May is president and chief operating officer of Triarc Companies, a consumer products company that owns Arby’s, T.J. Cinnamons, and Pasta Connection restaurants. The company recently sold its Snapple, Mistic, Royal Crown, and other soft drink brands to Cadbury Schweppes for $910 million in cash and $420 million in debt. The September 9, 2000, issue of the New York Times called Triarc’s investment return “remarkable” – –the firm paid $300 million in May 1997 to acquire Snapple from Quaker Oats.
Family Life: May lives in New York City with his wife, Leni. They have two grown children, Jonathan and Leslie Ann.
University Connections: A member of the Council on the Graduate School of Business and a University of Chicago trustee, May also is a member of the university’s biological sciences and health care committee and financial planning committee.
On Supporting the GSB Campaign: “The campaign is the most ambitious development plan the GSB has ever had. It is a vision of an entirely new campus in a space that is integral to the rest of the university. The GSB’s facilities are moving up to the level that the education and faculty have been at for years. . . . The University of Chicago––the college and the GSB––had an enormous influence on me and who I am. The GSB gave me the skills to earn the money that I now am able to, in turn, give back.”––A.R.
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