Sara Lee CEO reveals she had a stroke
Sara Lee Corp. chief Brenda Barnes broke the silence about her medical condition Monday morning, issuing a statement that she is recovering from a stroke.
“I know there has been a lot of speculation on my condition, so I want to take the opportunity to provide some details,” the chairwoman and chief executive, 56, said in a statement. “I suffered a stroke a few weeks ago, and I am now in the process of recuperating.”
Jon Harris, a Sara Lee spokesman, said Barnes and the company would provide no details on her condition or the severity of the stroke. He said Sara Lee plans to provide an update on Barnes’ health and her plans by its end-of-year earnings call Aug. 12. Whether she returns and assumes her full scope of duties has not been determined, he added.
“These things can have a long recovery period,” Harris said. “We’re just pleased she’s on the mend.”
Sara Lee announced May 14 that Barnes had taken ill but made no other statement, citing respect for her privacy. Even within the company there has been little information on the severity of her condition, one source said.
In her absence, the company’s board named Marcel Smits, executive vice president and chief financial officer, as interim CEO, and James S. Crown, lead independent director, assumed the role of chairman. The company also formed an Office of the Chairman comprising Crown, Smits and C.J. Fraleigh, CEO of the company’s North American Retail and Foodservice division.
This is not the first time Barnes has had problems related to her circulatory system. In October 2006, the company said she would miss Sara Lee’s annual meeting because of “a fairly common circulatory issue.” Crown led the meeting as Barnes underwent a battery of tests to determine the proper treatment plan. The company was not more specific about the problem then, and it is not clear whether it is related to her current condition.
A stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain gets clogged or bursts, starving brain tissue of blood and oxygen. Richard Bernstein, a stroke neurologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, said that strokes in 56-year-olds are not rare, but that the occurrence is much higher in people over 65.
Barnes joined Sara Lee as president and chief operating officer in July 2004 and became CEO in February 2005. She put in place a multiyear turnaround plan to boost revenues and profit margins.
Under her watch, the company has divested a number of business lines. It also launched a major stock buyback program this year that will total between $2.5 billion and $3 billion over three years.
The company’s shares rose 1% Monday to $14.78. Sara Lee stock is up 67% from a year ago, well outpacing the 18% rise of the S&P 500 index.
