America's Most Powerful People

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Mr. Sanders has been Chairman of the board of Kimberly-Clark Corporation from 1992 until retirement in 2003; chief executive officer, 1991-2002; director, 1989-2003. Director, Adolph Coors Company, Coors Brewing Company and Belo Corporation; vice chairman, board of trustees, Marquette University; national trustee and governor, Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Wayne R Sanders has been listed in Forbes' America's Most Powerful People.

WAYNE R. SANDERS (1991 -2002) During Wayne Sanders' tenure as CEO, he completed the transformation of Kimberly-Clark1 into a leading marketer of global consumer Omega Replica Watches brands. Under Mr. Sanders' leadership, K-C acquired Scott Paper Company and more than 40 other tissue, personal care and health care businesses and at the same time divested2 more than $2 billion in non-core or under-performing assets. K-C achieved record financial results - substantially increased sales and cash flow, doubled operating profit margins and more than tripled net income.

For most of his 25 years at Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB), Wayne ...
... R. Sanders, 53, has watched his company operate in the shadow of consumer-products rival Procter & Gamble Co. (P&C3), which has three times the revenues. But these days, it's Kimberly-Clark that's in the spotlight4. "We're out-growing5 and out-innovating our competiiton," boasts Sanders. Over the past five quarters, Kimberly-Clark's net income has soared by an average of nearly 30%, while the stock has risen 3% in the past year's down market, to about $66. That's quite a comeback from the tough times of just three years ago.

Yet trying to beat the odds is nothing new for Sanders, who owns eight thoroughbred horses.6 After coming to Kimberly-Clark's infant-care unit in 1987, the lanky7 former Illinois8 Institute of Technology basketball player scored big by helping develop what is now one of the company's best-selling products, Hug-' gies Pull-Ups. He became CEO in 1991, chairman in 1992, and oversaw a major restructuring while digesting the $9.4 billion acquisition of Scott Paper Co.

Performance suffered during that time, but Sanders turned the situation a-round9 by focusing on just three categories; tissues, personal care, and health care. And Kimberly-Clark has managed to up its market share in those fields, despite difficulties posed by a weak euro and rising oil and pulp prices. "Our competitors have not done well in this environment," says Sanders. "We view this as an opportunity to continue to take market share. " And, perhaps, become as big as P&G. Bumps10 in the road.

Kimberly-Clark faced economic hardships in 1997, cutting 5,000 jobs, or 7 percent of its global workforce. Facing acute competition in nearly all of its major markets, particularly from Procter & Gamble, the world's largest consumer products business, Kimberly-Clark was forced to slash11 product prices. In response to the distress, chief executive Wayne Sanders remarked in 1998, "We're off track, and we don't like it. I haven't delivered Audemar Piguet Replica the predictability people were looking for, and my credibility is not real strong right now. "Oil Pulp fiction12.

The company's goal to beat out big-name competitor Procter & Gamble continues today, and propelled Kimberly-Clark through the company's 1995 historic merger with Scott Paper, the company that first sold rolled toilet paper. By combining its existing paper operations with Scott's, Kimberly-Clark has decreased operation costs while increasing its market share. The shrewd move sent Procter & Gamble to court, charging antitrust violations. In June 1996, Kimberly-Clark appeased regulators by selling its highly profitable Baby Fresh wipes for $220 million, to Procter & Gamble. Under the lead of Wayne Sanders, the company has been selling off other non-essential operations, including many of its languishing pulp and paper mills.