F. Ross Johnson
| F. Ross Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Frederick Ross Johnson December 13, 1931 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Died | December 29, 2016 (aged 85) Jupiter, Florida, United States |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Education |
University of Toronto (M.B.A.) University of Manitoba (B.Com.) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
Frederick Ross Johnson, OC (December 13, 1931 – December 29, 2016) was a Canadian businessman, best known as the chief executive officer of RJR Nabisco in the 1980s.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on December 13, 1931, into a lower-middle-class family, Johnson used a military cadet scholarship program to attend the University of Manitoba, where he graduated in 1952 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and was a member of the fraternity Phi Delta Theta. He went on to earn an MBA from the University of Toronto in 1956.
Johnson first worked as an accountant for General Electric in Montreal and as a vice-president of merchandising for the T. Eaton Company before being named president of Standard Brands Ltd.
Johnson negotiated a merger between Standard Brands and Nabisco with Nabisco CEO Bob Schaeberle in 1981. Soon after, Shaeberle left Nabisco, and Johnson took the helm, replacing many Nabisco executives with ones from Standard Brands. After growing restless, he went into talks that led to the Nabisco-RJ Reynolds merger in 1985. He was soon appointed President and CEO of RJR Nabisco. Johnson appeared on the December 5, 1988 cover of Time Magazine. After dismal stock performance following the 1987 Stock Market Crash, Johnson decided to put the company in play. Originally, he planned to execute a management-led leveraged buyout with Shearson Lehman Hutton. Events quickly escalated into a takeover contest.
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