Business Executive. He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of the media giant Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and as the chairman and chief executive officer of the Columbia Broadcast System (CBS). A graduate of Yale and Princeton universities, he joined the U.S. Navy in 1960 as a lieutenant, serving as a staff member under Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, father of the U.S. nuclear submarine fleet. Following military service, he joined the consulting firm of McKinsey and Company where he remained for the next decade. From 1974 to 1986 he worked for the beverage and snack food company PepsiCo, serving as the director of financial planning, executive vice president and financial officer, president of Frito Lay, and president of PepsiCo foods. In 1993 he joined the financially struggling Westinghouse Company, where he overhauled the company from an industrial run entity into a media based conglomerate. The following year he led efforts in purchasing CBS, changing the Westinghouse name into the CBS Corporation, where he remained as corporate head until 1998. In 2003 he was recruited to run Electronic Data Systems, where he remained as CEO until the company's acquisition by Hewlett-Packard in 2008. He died from neuroendocrine cancer at the age of 73.
Business Executive. He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of the media giant Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and as the chairman and chief executive officer of the Columbia Broadcast System (CBS). A graduate of Yale and Princeton universities, he joined the U.S. Navy in 1960 as a lieutenant, serving as a staff member under Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, father of the U.S. nuclear submarine fleet. Following military service, he joined the consulting firm of McKinsey and Company where he remained for the next decade. From 1974 to 1986 he worked for the beverage and snack food company PepsiCo, serving as the director of financial planning, executive vice president and financial officer, president of Frito Lay, and president of PepsiCo foods. In 1993 he joined the financially struggling Westinghouse Company, where he overhauled the company from an industrial run entity into a media based conglomerate. The following year he led efforts in purchasing CBS, changing the Westinghouse name into the CBS Corporation, where he remained as corporate head until 1998. In 2003 he was recruited to run Electronic Data Systems, where he remained as CEO until the company's acquisition by Hewlett-Packard in 2008. He died from neuroendocrine cancer at the age of 73.
Bio by: Nils M. Solsvik Jr.
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