In more than 20 years with Monsanto
Company, Arnold W. Donald, '80, had risen through the ranks from
industrial chemical sales to senior vice president. Along the way,
he served as an assistant marketing manager and president of the
company's $4 billion-plus agricultural sector. Many believed that
he stood next in line to take over the biotechnology firm.
Yet in March 2000, Donald walked away from the
company where he had built his career so that he could build a new firm, Chicago-based Merisant Company, maker of Equal, Canderel, and other tabletop sweeteners. It was not part of the plan he had developed for himself as a high school student in New Orleans: gain the educational and work experiences necessary to become a general
manager in a global, science-based, Fortune 50 company. But Donald had already achieved that goal, so it was time to trade it in for a new one: become chairman and CEO
of a privately held company.
At first, Donald wasn't interested in the opportunity, which came about because Monsanto was undergoing a restructuring and selling its sweetener business. He enjoyed his position at Monsanto and preferred biotechnology
to sweeteners.
But one of the potential investors was Pegasus Capital Advisors, and one of the principals was a friend from Donald's undergraduate days at Washington University
in St. Louis. Eventually, a group of investors, including Pegasus, and Donald closed the deal for $560 million.
"It was an opportunity to work with a very close friend. It was a heck of an individual financial opportunity," Donald explained, adding, "The big reason was the opportunity to create what I think the ideal company is."
He began creating the ideal company by setting strategic goals for each quarter of Merisant's first year. For the first three months, he focused on the transition of the business. Next, he concentrated on securing Merisant's base business, which consists of 19 brands of sugar substitute sold in 130
countries. Then, he started determining how to grow the base business. In the final three months of the first year,
Donald worked with outside consultants to explore
expansion and acquisition possibilities.
Financially, the work has paid off, with more than 10 percent earnings growth last year and double-digit growth rates in both volume of cases shipped and sales. What was a $400 million business in 2000, Donald said, is on its way to becoming a $600 million business by 2004.
But Donald's vision of the ideal company extends beyond profitability to people. It means surrounding himself
with people he likes and respects, and it also means seeking diversity among the company's 600 employees. "It is my deep-seated belief, based on experience, that diversity of thinking creates outstanding results," he said. He doesn't equate "diversity of thinking" with race, gender, or ethnicity, but 23.3 percent of Merisant officials and managers are people of color and 25 percent are women. Donald attributes these high rates to the company's global nature and female-dominated customer base, as well as to his own wide circle of professional and civic acquaintances.
For instance, outside Merisant, Donald serves on
the boards of Jackson Laboratories, Crown Cork & Seal Company, Oil-Dri Corporation, Belden, Strategic Distribution, the St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Association, and the St. Louis Art Museum, Opera Theatre, and Municipal Theatre Association. He also served on the President's Export Council for international trade under President Clinton and is a member of the Department of Commerce Advisory Committee on Africa.
He has taken on yet another venture in the past year. Now that he's not part of a publicly traded corporation that specializes in biotechnology, Donald is "in a position to invest in everybody's technologies." Along with some
of his partners, he's putting together a $200 million venture capital fund, Auxyn Biosciences, which will invest in the medical, bioinformatics, and plant sciences industries in
St. Louis. "I believe bioscience is going to change the planet," he said.--Kimberly Sweet
