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To: richardred who wrote (965)	4/17/2006 1:48:21 PM
From: richardred	Respond to of 7259

Cardinal Founder Steps Down As CEO Monday April 17, 12:47 pm ET By Mark Williams, AP Business Writer Cardinal Health Founder Robert Walter Steps Down As CEO, Plans to Give Up Chairman Post COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Cardinal Health Inc. founder Robert Walter, who turned a small food wholesaler into one of the nation's largest providers of health care products and services, stepped down Monday as chief executive and plans to give up his position as chairman within two years. R. Kerry Clark, vice chairman of the board of consumer products company Procter & Gamble Co., will succeed Walter as CEO and has been appointed president as part of a succession plan in which he will become chairman, the company said. The move comes as Cardinal, a $75 billion global company ranked No. 19 on the Fortune 500 list, has rebounded from an embarrassing accounting scandal with two years of solid earnings that has boosted its stock to near record levels. The company, based in suburban Dublin, has been discussing a succession plan for 60-year-old Walter for several years, spokesman Jim Mazzola said. Clark, 53, was most recently responsible for P&G's family health business, which includes pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter medicines. He had been with P&G 32 years. "His skill set is highly relevant to Cardinal Health's mission to build upon our market segment leadership and capitalize on the company's considerable opportunities for growth around the world," Walter said in a statement. Powered by a string of more than 40 acquisitions over the years, Walter turned Cardinal Health into a leading wholesale drug distributor that has expanded into manufacturing and distributing medical, surgical and laboratory products. The Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating the company in October 2003 over its accounting treatment of money it recovered from vitamin manufacturers. The investigation was expanded to include its core pharmaceutical distribution business. Cardinal then began an internal investigation, which resulted in the company restating its annual and quarterly financial statements for three years. Some employees were disciplined or fired, and Chief Financial Officer Richard Miller quit in 2004. The company has been discussing a settlement with the SEC. Cardinal stock fell 41 cents to $69.59 in trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock price has ranged from $53.20 to $75.74 in the past year. Cardinal Health: cardinalhealth.com biz.yahoo.com