{{short description|American businessman (born 1959)}} {{Infobox person | name = John H. Hammergren | title = | image = | caption = | birth_name = John Hammergren | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1959|2|20|df=yes}} | birth_place = Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. | occupation = CEO of McKesson Corporation, Retired | years_active = | spouse = | website = | children = }} '''John H. Hammergren''' is an American businessman. He is best known for his role as chairman and CEO of McKesson Corporation since 1999.<ref>{{cite web|author=Joseph Ajith |url=https://people.forbes.com/profile/johnfelix/40672 |title=Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned |work=Forbes |date= |access-date=2015-07-30}}{{dead link|date=January 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> On November 1, 2018, Hammergren announced his plan to retire.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Walker|first=Joseph|date=2018-11-01|title=Longtime McKesson CEO to Step Down|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/longtime-mckesson-ceo-to-step-down-1541112805|access-date=2020-07-07|issn=0099-9660}}</ref> On April 1, 2019, he officially retired from McKesson. He was succeeded by Brian Tyler.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mckesson.com/about-mckesson/newsroom/press-releases/2019/brian-tyler-new-mckesson-ceo/|title=Brian Tyler Becomes McKesson's New CEO {{!}} McKesson|website=www.mckesson.com|access-date=2019-04-05}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Hammergren was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on February 20, 1959. His father was a traveling salesman in the healthcare industry.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Bennett|first=Johanna|title=Why Bigger Is Better|url=https://online.barrons.com/article/SB52133021052493823286804580156201164049386.html|access-date=2020-07-07|website=Barrons|language=en-US}}</ref>
After attending the University of Minnesota, Hammergren received an MBA from William College Of Business at Xavier University.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Hess|first=Abigail|date=2018-05-22|title=Here's where the CEOs of the top 10 Fortune 500 companies went to school|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/21/where-the-ceos-of-the-top-10-fortune-500-companies-went-to-school.html|access-date=2020-07-07|website=CNBC|language=en}}</ref>
==Career== Hammergren began his career at American Hospital Supply, which was subsequently purchased by Baxter Healthcare.
===McKesson Corporation=== In 1996, Hammergren was hired by McKesson Corporation to run the Pharmaceutical division at McKesson.<ref name=":1" />
In 1999, soon after McKesson's fraud scandal, he was named president and co-CEO of the company, becoming sole CEO in 2001, and chairman of the board in 2002.<ref name="dailybeast highest">{{cite web|author=Gary Rivlin|date=1 February 2016|title=He's One of the Nation's Highest-Paid CEOs—and You've Never Heard of Him|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/01/02/he-s-one-of-the-nation-s-highest-paid-ceos-and-you-ve-never-heard-of-him.html|access-date=2016-07-31|website=Thedailybeast.com}}
On December 17, 2017, CBS's ''60 Minutes'' implied that Hammergren's negligence allowed the opiate epidemic to kill thousands of Americans, documenting repeated failure of McKesson to monitor and report suspiciously large orders of opiates by small pharmacies in rural locations.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Maremont|first=Mark|date=2013-06-25|title=For McKesson's CEO, A Pension of $159 Million|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323998604578565491579124154|access-date=2020-07-07|issn=0099-9660}}</ref>
Hammergren was elected president and CEO of McKesson in 2001 and chairman in 2002.<ref name=":0" /> In 2017, McKesson was involved in a number of lawsuits against the state of Arkansas over the supply of vecuronium bromide.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/04/14/drug-companies-take-aim-at-arkansas-executions-and-demand-lethal-injection-drugs-back/|title=Drug companies take aim at Arkansas executions and demand lethal injection drugs back|last=Berman|first=Mark|date=2017-04-14|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2018-03-30|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>
Lawsuits alleged that McKesson directors paid little attention to oversight of opioid sales after a 2008 settlement centering on the company's insufficient monitoring of such shipments. The lawsuit involved ten existing and former executives and directors, including Hammergren.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-08/mckesson-investor-claims-board-failed-oversight-duty-on-opioids|title=McKesson Records Show Failed Opioid Oversight, Lawsuit Says|date=2017-12-08|work=Bloomberg.com|access-date=2018-03-30|language=en}}</ref>
Hammergren was criticized for his pay given the controversy surrounding the company's role in the opioid epidemic and failure to report suspicious opioid orders.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/21/business/mckesson-opioid-packaging.html|title=Hard Questions for a Company at the Center of the Opioid Crisis|last=Morgenson|first=Gretchen|date=2017-07-21|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-03-30|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
Hammergren's annual bonus pay was increased to amount of $1.1 million in 2017. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who own shares in the company, said of the bonus pay issue: "It is staggering that Hammergren received a $1.1 million boost to his bonus just months after the company announced it had reached a record $150 million settlement with the DEA in a year the company faces mounting litigation, negative press and Congressional scrutiny." The union urged shareholders to vote against Hammergren's compensation package at the company's annual shareholder meeting.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://fortune.com/2017/07/10/mckesson-ceo-pay-opioid-teamsters/|title=McKesson Shareholders Say the Opioid Crisis Should Have Cost the CEO Some Bonus Pay|work=Fortune|access-date=2018-03-30|language=en}}</ref>
====Highest paid CEO==== In December 2011 it was revealed that Hammergren was the highest paid CEO in the U.S. with total remuneration in excess of $700 million.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/dec/14/executive-pay-increase-america-ceos | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Dominic | last=Rushe | title=Revealed: huge increase in executive pay for America's top bosses | date=14 December 2011}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" |+ Annual total compensation payouts |- ! ! 1999 ! 2008 ! 2009 ! 2010 ! 2011 ! 2012 ! 2013 ! 2014 p ! 2015 ! 2016 |- | (in million $) | 0.692<ref name="dailybeast highest"/> | 41<ref name="dailybeast highest"/> | 37<ref name="dailybeast highest"/> | 55<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2011-07-07-executive-compensation-stock-options-payouts-CEOs-gains_n.htm | work=USA Today | first=Gary | last=Strauss | title=CEOs reap huge payouts in 2011, corporate filings show | date=8 July 2011 |access-date=2015-07-30}}</ref> | 46<ref name="dailybeast highest"/> | | 66.3<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://fortune.com/2014/08/05/ceo-exit-pay-under-attack-among-fortune-500/|title=CEO exit pay under attack among Fortune 500|work=Fortune|access-date=2018-03-30|language=en}}</ref> | | | |}
In June 2014, Glenn Gray, a former employee at McKesson returned to the company's annual meeting to ask that Hammergren's $292 million severance package be redistributed to low-paid employees. The proposal was defeated by the shareholders. He had also earlier, in 2013, 4 months before being relieved from his duties at McKesson, asked for wage raises during the company's annual meeting too.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-07-30/fired-mckesson-worker-fights-ceo-hammergrens-potential-exit-pay|title=Fired McKesson Worker Loses Fight on CEO Hammergren's Potential Exit Pay|website=Bloomberg.com|date=30 July 2014|author=Dawn Kopecki|access-date=2016-07-31}}</ref>
According to a Bloomberg Pay Index, Hammergren had taken home $781 million as of July 2017, since becoming sole CEO at McKesson in 2001.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-21/overdose-victim-s-dad-rallies-teamsters-in-fight-with-mckesson|title=Overdose Victim's Dad Rallies Teamsters in Fight With McKesson|date=2017-07-21|work=Bloomberg.com|access-date=2018-03-30|language=en}}</ref>
===Hewlett-Packard=== In 2005, Hammergren was elected to Hewlett-Packard's board of directors.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/connieguglielmo/2013/04/04/hewlett-packards-board-continues-to-deliver-drama-as-chairman-lane-steps-down/#7f8252cf4d1c|title=Hewlett-Packard's Board Continues To Deliver Drama As Chairman Lane Steps Down|last=Guglielmo|first=Connie|work=Forbes|access-date=2018-03-30|language=en}}</ref> Hammergren served until 2013 when he left the board.<ref name="Chairman steps down">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/technology/hewlett-packard-chairman-steps-down.html|title=H.P. Chairman Steps Down as 2 Resign From Board|last=Hardy|first=Quentin|date=2013-04-04|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-03-30|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> New York City's public pension funds supported the efforts to oust Hammergren and G. Kennedy Thompson because of their support for the company's 2011 acquisition of British software maker Autonomy and "their failure to protect investors from costly, misguided acquisitions."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2013/03/08/nyc-pension-funds-push-to-replace-two-hp-directors.html|title=NYC Pension Funds Fight to Replace Two HP Directors|last=CNBC|date=2013-03-08|work=CNBC|access-date=2018-03-30}}</ref> Hammergren received less than 60 percent of the vote for reelection at the 2013 annual shareholder vote and subsequently resigned.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://seekingalpha.com/instablog/46527536-sam-fitch/4954869-fall-hp-price-board-dysfunction|title=The Fall Of HP And The Price Of Board Dysfunction - Sam Fitch|website=Seeking Alpha|date=30 January 2017 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-03-30}}</ref>
===Awards=== *''Best-performing CEOs in the world'' by the ''Harvard Business Review'', ranked #53 in 2014<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://hbr.org/2014/11/the-best-performing-ceos-in-the-world|title=The Best-Performing CEOs in the World|journal=Harvard Business Review|date=November 2014|access-date=2016-07-31}}</ref> and #63 in 2015.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://hbr.org/2015/11/the-best-performing-ceos-in-the-world|title=The Best-Performing CEOs in the World|journal=Harvard Business Review|date=November 2015|access-date=2016-07-31}}</ref>)
===Other tenures=== *Chairman of the supervisory board of Celesio AG<ref name="Executive biography">{{Cite web|title=John H. Hammergren - Executive Profile & Biography {{!}} McKesson|url=https://www.mckesson.com/about-mckesson/our-company/executive-officers/john-h-hammergren/|access-date=2018-03-30|website=www.mckesson.com|language=en-us}}</ref> *Member of the Healthcare Leadership Council<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hlc.org/app/uploads/2018/01/HLC-Members2018.pdf|title=2018 HLC Members|publisher=Healthcare Leadership Council}}</ref> *Member of the board of trustees for the Center for Strategic and International Studies<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.csis.org/about-us/board-trustees|title=Board of Trustees|website=www.csis.org|language=en|access-date=2018-03-30}}</ref> *Member of Hewlett-Packard's board of directors (2005-2013)<ref name="Chairman steps down" />
== Book == * {{cite book |last=Hammergren |first=John |date=2008 |title=Skin in the Game: How Putting Yourself First Today Will Revolutionize Health Care Tomorrow |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0470262788 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/skiningamehowput00hamm }}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links == *[http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/F-L/Hammergren-John-H-1959.html "Reference for Business Entry on John H Hammergren"] *{{C-SPAN}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammergren, John}} Category:American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:University of Minnesota alumni Category:Xavier University alumni Category:American chairpersons of corporations Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:McKesson Corporation