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Former Johnson & Johnson CEO dies
NEW YORK, (UPI) -- Richard B. Sellars, a former chairman and chief executive of Johnson & Johnson who fought to keep the firm in its New Jersey hometown, has died, his son said.
Johnson, 92, died at his home in Osterville, Mass., The New York Times reported Sunday.
Sellars worked for Johnson & Johnson for 40 years, starting as a junior salesman and becoming its chief executive in 1973, only the second person outside the Johnson family to head the company, the newspaper said.
The company was founded in New Brunswick, N.J., in 1886, but in the 1980s, as the city was in decline, some on its board of directors pushed for the company to relocate, Sellars' son, Richard Jr., recalled.
Sellars convinced the board to keep the company in its birthplace, and became active in efforts to revitalize the city's downtown, heading the New Brunswick Development Corp.
"He was so committed to the needs of the city," John Heldrich, a former executive at Johnson & Johnson, said.
Sellars is survived by his wife Doris, two sons, two daughters, nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, the Times said.
NEW YORK, (UPI) -- Richard B. Sellars, a former chairman and chief executive of Johnson & Johnson who fought to keep the firm in its New Jersey hometown, has died, his son said.
Johnson, 92, died at his home in Osterville, Mass., The New York Times reported Sunday.
Sellars worked for Johnson & Johnson for 40 years, starting as a junior salesman and becoming its chief executive in 1973, only the second person outside the Johnson family to head the company, the newspaper said.
The company was founded in New Brunswick, N.J., in 1886, but in the 1980s, as the city was in decline, some on its board of directors pushed for the company to relocate, Sellars' son, Richard Jr., recalled.
Sellars convinced the board to keep the company in its birthplace, and became active in efforts to revitalize the city's downtown, heading the New Brunswick Development Corp.
"He was so committed to the needs of the city," John Heldrich, a former executive at Johnson & Johnson, said.
Sellars is survived by his wife Doris, two sons, two daughters, nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, the Times said.