Robert D. Walter (born 1944) is an American businessman best known for his role in the creation of Cardinal Health.
Walter graduated from St. Charles Preparatory School in Columbus, Ohio, [1] and received a B.A. degree from Ohio University in 1967. [2] Walter later attended Harvard Business School, where he received an MBA. [3]
In 1971, he founded Cardinal Foods after purchasing Monarch Foods, a small Ohio food wholesaler. [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 a Fortune 100 company and one of the largest distributors of pharmaceuticals, health & beauty products, and hospital supplies in the United States. [9] In 2007, he was #14 on Fortune 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 of Louisville based Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. [12] Walter previously served as a director of American Express, Nordstrom, CBS, Viacom and Westinghouse. [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 the Columbus Museum of Art, [15] where they donated $10,000,000, the largest gift in the Museum’s history, in 2015. [16] Walter resides in Columbus, Ohio; Boca Raton, Florida; and Park City, Utah.