.png)
.webp)
Procter & Gamble traces its origins to 1837 Cincinnati, where it was founded by the British immigrant William Procter and his partnership with his brother-in-law James Gamble.
Procter was a trained candlemaker in England before immigrating to the United States.
Gamble had apprenticed as a soap boiler.
In the beginning Procter & Gamble manufactured homemade products like candles and soap.
The tiny venture grew based on hard work and quality products.
The founders invented new consumer goods like Ivory Soap and the world’s first hydrogenated shortening (Crisco).
Proctor and Gamble created the “P&G way” of doing business via purpose-driven brands, ethics and empathy.
William Cooper Procter of William Proctor.
Cooper was known for his progressive management style.
He became General Manager in 1890 and President from 1907 through 1930.
Cooper spearheaded reforms regarding employee welfare and cemented P&G’s reputation as a pioneer in ethical business standards.
Though he retired without an heir, Cooper Procter's legacy endured through the “spiritual inheritance” he imparted to subsequent generations of leadership seeking to uphold the company's foundational values.
Inheriting a leadership post left vacant by outgoing President Cooper Procter, Richard R. Deupree assumed the role of President and CEO from 1930 through 1948, overseeing Procter & Gamble through the tumultuous era of the Great Depression and World War II.
Guiding the company with an avowed belief in harmonious labor relations, Deupree built upon Cooper Procter's pioneering employee welfare programs while pursuing an aggressive international growth strategy in P&G's nascent overseas markets.
As chief executive, Deupree played an instrumental role in transmitting to future generations of leadership the company’s foundational belief in the inseparability of interests between enterprise and workforce.
Neil H. McElroy became President and CEO from 1948 to 1957.
Seeing TV as the next best thing in advertising, McElroy leveraged P&G’s superior marketing capabilities to advertise some of their popular brands like Tide detergent.
McElroy also focused on employee retention by implementing benefits and profit-sharing programs.
Assuming the helm from predecessor Neil H. McElroy, Howard J. Morgens stewarded Procter & Gamble through a sustained period of growth and prosperity as President and CEO from 1957 through 1974.
Leveraging P&G's dominance in laundry and household cleaning products, Morgens pursued a program of strategic diversification into the beauty, baby care, and personal healthcare sectors to position the company for the modern consumer era.
Regarded as a dutiful custodian of Cooper Procter's progressive values, Morgens sustained P&G’s foundational belief in “putting people first" through extensive worker training and promotion-from-within policies.
Assuming the Presidential mantle in the fretful economic climate of the mid-1970s, Edward G. Harness stewarded Procter & Gamble capably as CEO from 1974 through 1981 when rampant stagflation threatened consumer industries.
Though forced to implement austerity measures to offset economic headwinds, Harness sustained investment in P&G’s global business infrastructure while upholding the company’s time-honored values like promotion from within to sustain worker loyalty, morale and productivity.
Said to regard his role foremost as a caretaker bound by duty, Harness ensured the “basic course” of Procter & Gamble stayed true through economic volatility even at the sacrifice of short term gains.
During a period of slowing sales growth, John G. Smale brought transformative change to Procter & Gamble as Chairman and CEO throughout the 1980s.
Smale spearheaded a sweeping reorganization centered around streamlining brands and decentralizing business units.
Smale’s goal was to empower managers to make faster decisions.
Smale’s structural changes helped to improve sales and established a solid foundation for the years to come.
The ‘90s were competitive with new household and personal care products hitting the market—Edwin L. Artzt confronted the challenge directly as CEO from 1990 through 1995 by prioritizing lower costs and higher quality.
His focus was on restructuring initiatives to boost efficiency and doubling down on P&G’s traditional people-centric values.
Artzt’s incentives positioned P&G advantageously for continued growth and global expansion.
John E. Pepper became CEO in 1995.
He implemented extensive restructuring and downsizing, painful yet necessary to streamline operations, Pepper nonetheless hewed faithfully to the principle of “doing the right thing” in his handling of job reductions.
Though his tenure saw workforce morale suffer under intensifying competitive pressures, Pepper sustained vital investments in P&G’s brands and global infrastructure to poise it for leadership in the 21st century worldwide consumer economy.
Assuming command in 1999 intent on accelerating growth and innovation, Durk I. Jager’s bold vision to reorganize Procter & Gamble instead brought 17 months of turbulence and declining market share that culminated in his abrupt dismissal in 2000.
Seeking to impose a structure based around global business units, Jager alienated P&G’s traditional brand managers and lost focus on core US markets leading profits to plunge; the resulting crisis of confidence in P&G’s direction led the board to push Jager out in favor of his predecessor.
Though brief, Jager’s unsuccessful tenure brought constructive change through hard lessons on the risks of overly rapid transformation without first securing organization-wide buy-in.
Inheriting command amid sagging morale and competitive struggles in 2000, Alan G. Lafley engineered a remarkable multi-year turnaround as President & CEO until 2009 through a renewed focus on P&G’s core strengths and consumers.
Harnessing the company’s innovation capabilities behind blockbuster launches like Swiffer and Febreze while expanding aggressively into emerging markets, he drove P&G to its longest stretch of sales and profit growth despite the financial crisis.
Restoring flagging employee confidence in his first tenure through people-centric values, Lafley was called back to helm P&G again from 2013-2015 to solidify hard fought gains in a period of austerity and consolidation across the global consumer industry.
Rising up through the corporate ranks to CEO in 2015, David S. Taylor stewarded Procter & Gamble capably through a period of industry consolidation and economic shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Doubling down on P&G’s historic innovation strengths, he oversaw development of creative new brands while aggressively expanding e-commerce and direct-to-consumer capabilities to maintain the company’s edge.
Though recent sales flattened, Taylor’s strategic investments in digital transformation and premiumization positioned P&G to better navigate disrupted global supply chains and evolving consumer preferences.
Longtime company veteran Jon R. Moeller took the reins in 2021 faced with surging inflation and a murky post-pandemic recovery yet backed by P&G’s formidable brands, economies of scale, and history of overcoming adversity.
Inheriting the challenge to accelerate growth amid these headwinds, Moeller moved rapidly to continue expanding P&G's portfolio into faster-growing specialty segments.
He has had to deal with raising prices to get costs under control and maintain profit margins.
Though the success of his strategic bets remains unknown, Moeller’s extensive financial experience and command of the complex global enterprise position him well to lead P&G forward into new frontiers.
.png){kind=logo}
.webp)