John Hammergren: Leading McKesson To New Heights

John Hammergren was born in 1959 in St. Paul, Minnesota.  His early exposure to the healthcare industry was through his father who was a traveling salesman in the healthcare business. John often tagged along on business trips.

He was awarded a scholarship to the Institute of Technology engineering program at the University of Minnesota but later on found his interest in human interaction and business and not technical engineering courses.   John wound up graduating with a business degree in 1981. He would later on complete (through employer sponsorship) an MBA degree at Xavier University in 1987.

John’s career began at American Hospital Supply where he worked for 10 years.  It was acquired by Baxter Health Care and the new environment led him to work briefly for Lyphomed.  John joined Kendall Healthcare Products in 1991. Since the company was in the midst of a leveraged buyout it was in some degree of turmoil. Although John belonged to the last batch of people hired he was undeterred and helped turn the company around.

He then joined McKesson as president of McKesson Health Systems in 1996. This was a newly organized business unit focused on the pharmaceutical supply management needs of healthcare institutions.  He literally built the unit from ground up. With the needed financial support it became a huge success within only two years.

To further strengthen their business McKesson acquired HBOC in a $13.9 billion deal in January 1999. HBOC was the nation’s largest healthcare software vendor. John was appointed executive vice president of the new company and president of McKesson’s supply-management business. As things turned out HBOC’s books were fraudulent.  Earnings were inflated.  This caused share prices of the company to drop sharply. Top executives resigned or were fired.

John ended up being co-CEO of the company. After much hard work they were able to turn things around.  For his work he was eventually elected president and CEO of McKesson in 2001 and Chairman in 2002. Under John’s leadership McKesson has increased its revenue to $123 billion, entered new markets, and became the number 14 company in the Fortune 500 list.  He has contributed a lot to the success of America’s oldest and largest healthcare services company.

Everyone Has A Chance

John Stumpf is the chairman, president and CEO of Wells Fargo & Company. During his early years it would be hard to believe he would be the head of one of the largest banks in the U.S. and the world. It goes to show that everyone has a chance of being successful and success has more to do with what you do with your life than the circumstances you were born in.

For Stumpf his early circumstances were not exactly ideal. He was born in 1953 in Pierz, Minnesota.  He grew up in a dairy and poultry farm as one of 11 children. Stumpf’s father was a dairy farmer. Of simple means, Stumpf shared a bedroom with is brothers until he got married.

School was not a bright spot in his life. He graduated in the bottom half of his high school class. He got a job as a bread maker in a Pierz bakery on account of the fact that his family had limited resources and his bad grades. He was able to enroll in St. Cloud State University on a provisional basis a year later.  Stumpf was able to get a job as a repossession agent at First Bank in St. Paul, Minnesota.

He obtained a bachelor’s degree in finance from St. Cloud State University and his MBA from the University of Minnesota.  In 1982 he joined the former Norwest Corporation (predecessor of Wells Fargo) in the loans department and later became senior vice president and chief credit offer for Norwest Bank, N.A.  Minneapolis.

Stumpf kept moving to higher positions. He was the regional president for Norwest Bank Texas from 1994 to 1998. He headed the bank’s acquisition of 30 Texas banks with assets totaling over $13 billion during his four years in that position.

Norwest Corporation and Wells Fargo & Company merged in 1998 with the surviving entity name being Wells Fargo & Company. For Stumpf it led to higher positions and more responsibilities and accomplishments.  He headed the integration of Wells Fargo’s acquisition of the $23 billion First Security Corporation in 2000. Stumpf was appointed Group EVP for Community Banking in May 2002. He headed one of the largest mergers in history with the purchase of Wachovia in December 2008.

Stumpf became president in August 2005, CEO June 2007, and chairman in January 2010. His early circumstance wasn’t an obstacle to his success.