Robert D. Walter (born 1944) is an American businessman best known for his role in the creation ofCardinal Health.
Walter graduated fromSt. Charles Preparatory School inColumbus, Ohio,[1] and received a B.A. degree fromOhio University in 1967.[2] Walter later attendedHarvard Business School, where he received an MBA.[3]
In 1971, he founded Cardinal Foods after purchasing Monarch Foods, a smallOhio foodwholesaler.[4][5] In less than a decade his company became a regional food distributor.[6] In 1979, the company acquired Bailey Drug Company and began wholesaling drugs.[7] He renamed the company Cardinal Health.[5] By 1983, the company went public and, under Walter's direction, achieved $1 billion in revenue in 1991.[6]
In subsequent years, the company experienced extraordinary growth, "one of a handful of large U.S. companies that had achieved earnings-per-share growth in excess of 20 percent for 15 years straight."[8] Cardinal Health is now aFortune 100 company and one of the largest distributors ofpharmaceuticals, health & beauty products, and hospital supplies in the United States.[9] In 2007, he was #14 onFortune magazine's list of the 25 top-paid male executives, with total compensation of $42.7 million the previous year.[10] He retired from Cardinal Health at the end of the 2008 fiscal year.[11]
In 2016, after serving on the board since 2006, he was named non-executive chairman ofLouisville basedYum! Brands, the parent company ofKFC,Pizza Hut andTaco Bell.[12] Walter previously served as a director ofAmerican Express,Nordstrom,CBS,Viacom andWestinghouse.[13]
He is married to Margaret "Peggy" Walter, who also attended Ohio University.[14] The Walters have given support to the Ohio University community including Margaret Walter Hall, and to theColumbus Museum of Art,[15] where they donated $10,000,000, the largest gift in the Museum’s history, in 2015.[16] Walter resides inColumbus, Ohio;Boca Raton, Florida; andPark City, Utah.
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