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John Searle was the CEO of G.D. Searle & Company, a pharmaceutical company founded by Gideon D. Searle in 1888. During the Great Depression in 1931, the company encountered problems and John Searle was the one who helped steer it through the difficult environment.
In 1936, John became the president and CEO and under his leadership, the company grew rapidly. John Searle created an intensive research program that was able to produce Enovid, the first oral contraceptive drug. This became a huge success that brought G.D. Searle & Company's profit to grow from $7.4 million dollars to $24.2 million dollars from 1960 to 1964.
John Searle - Steering a Company Thru the Great Depression
John Searle was born in Iowa. He was the grandson of the founder of G.D. Searle & Company, Gideon D. Searle. John finished his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan.
He worked as general manager for the G.D. Searle & Company in 1931 and became the president and CEO in 1936. This was the time of the Great Depression and John Searle had to carry the responsibility of getting the company through these difficult times. He formulated a new strategy to fit their current situation and that is to focus on the profitable and highly specialized items in the product line of the company.
One example wherein he applied this strategy was with Metamucil. Metamucil was the first non-irritating laxative and was one of their best selling products. So instead of providing customers a wide range of pharmaceutical products, they focused their sales only on Metamucil. This strategy of John Searle was very effective.
During his control of the company, John Searle created a program for intensive research that resulted in the creation of Enovid, the first oral contraceptive. This pharmaceutical first became a big hit and in four years, the profit growth of G.D. Searle & Company became exponential, from a mere $7.4 million dollars to a whopping $24.2 million dollars.
Under the leadership of John Searle, G.D. Searle & Company grew massively. When John died in 1978, the Searle family had already become one of Chicago's wealthiest.
The John Searle Quick Bio
Full Name: John G. Searle
Birth Date: 1901
Birth Place: Iowa
Company: G.D. Searle & Company
Industry: Healthcare
Key Success Traits: highly innovative, amply strategic
Additional:
John Searle actually had plans to merge G.D. Searle & Co., with Abbot Laboratories. But John realized that he and Abbot Laboratories' George Cain will not be good business partners as evidenced by the amount of squabbling they both have on the golf course! As a result, the merger did not push through.
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