Sanders to Replace Retiring DeLoach as President, CEO of Sonoco
 Print this article | Send to Colleague
Sonoco, Hartsville, S.C., USA, this week announced that M. Jack Sanders will become president and CEO of the company, effective April 1, 2013, when Harris E. DeLoach Jr., retires as an active employee after more than 27 years with Sonoco. Sanders also was elected to Sonoco's board of directors, effective immediately, increasing the board to 13 members.
Sanders is currently president and COO of Sonoco and has global leadership, sales, and operating responsibility for all of the company's diversified packaging businesses. DeLoach is currently chairman and CEO, a position he has held since July 2000. He has been a member of Sonoco's board since 1998 and chairman of the board since 2005, and will remain its executive chairman following his retirement on March 31, 2013.
"During his 25-year career with Sonoco, Jack has played an integral role in helping to grow the company and successfully led many of our consumer, industrial, and protective packaging businesses," said DeLoach. "Jack is an extremely talented leader who has proven that he's ready to serve as Sonoco's eighth CEO over our 113-year history."
A graduate of Louisiana State University with a B.S. degree in finance, Sanders joined Sonoco in 1988 as national sales and marketing manager for the company's reels business. In 1992, he was asked to build and lead the development of Sonoco's new protective packaging business as its general manager. He was promoted in 1998 to division VP and GM of protective packaging.
Sanders was elected a corporate officer and named VP, Industrial Products, North America, in 2001. He was subsequently named VP, Global Industrial products in January 2006 and assumed responsibility for all industrial converting businesses as SVP in July 2007. In 2008, he was named EVP, Industrial, with global operating responsibility for all of the company's businesses serving industrial markets, including Sonoco's tubes and cores, paper, reels, protective packaging, paperboard specialties, and recycling businesses. Prior to assuming his current position, Sanders served as EVP of Sonoco's Global Consumer businesses, where he was responsible for rigid paper and closures, rigid plastics, flexible packaging, and display and packaging businesses.
During DeLoach's 12 years as CEO, Sonoco has grown sales from $2.7 billion to a projected $4.75 billion at the end of 2012, while its asset base has nearly doubled to more than $4 billion. Also during his tenure, the company has returned approximately $1.6 billion to shareholders in cash dividends and share repurchases and has provided a total shareholder return of approximately 153% through Oct. 31, 2012. While he served as CEO, Sonoco made more than 50 acquisitions and Sonoco was transformed from primarily a company serving industrial packaging markets to a diversified global consumer, industrial, and protective packaging company.
|
|
