Robert Schoellhorn

Robert Schoellhorn joined Abbott in 1973 after 26 years at American Cyanamid, where he most recently had been president and general manager of its Lederle Laboratories division. He was named Abbott CEO in 1979. The approachable Philadelphia native was wearing pullover sweaters in the executive suite during the power-suited '80s, when Abbott reaped the rewards of diversification after investment in diagnostics, new drugs and people. Between 1975 and 1985, Abbott led 18 pharma companies in shareholder returns. Over the same decade, however, a parade of chief operating officers left the company, fueling conflict between Schoellhorn and directors over the CEO's purported authoritarian management style. The board removed him on short notice as CEO in late 1989 and three months later cut short his chairmanship tenure. A year after leaving Abbott, Schoellhorn bought a luxury RV made by Oregon-based Marathon Coach, which led to his investing in the company. By 1994 he was the sole owner. Steve Schoellhorn, 47 and now CEO of Marathon, said annual sales rose from less than $15 million in 1991 to more than $100 million before the financial crisis. Last year's revenue was $60 million. Each Marathon RV sells for about $2.5 million, he said.