AUSTIN, Texas (April 4, 2006) Whole Foods Market CEO, Chairman and Co-founder John Mackey has been named to Barron's magazine's annual world's best chief executive officers list. Mackey is one of 30 corporate leaders to be named to the editor's list, which assesses profit growth and stock-price gains, leadership strength and industry stature. The magazine's editors also chose CEOs who have made a difference to their organizations and who would be missed by investors if they left.
Mackey made the list for setting “conventional wisdom about the grocery business on its head” with average sales gains of 21 percent for the past five years. According to editors, Mackey has “tapped into Americans' growing interest in healthy eating” with bright and inviting stores.
In 2006, Whole Foods Market earned a spot for the ninth year in a row on FORTUNE magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For list at number 15, its highest ranking ever. The Company also ranked at number 449 on the FORTUNE 500 list of the nation's largest companies.
With Mackey's leadership, the Company started two foundations in 2005. The Animal Compassion Foundation provides education and research services to assist and inspire ranchers and meat producers around the world to achieve a higher standard of animal welfare excellence while still maintaining economic viability. The Whole Planet Foundation is dedicated to fighting poverty in developing countries where Whole Foods Market trades by funding collateral-free micro-loans to poor women to begin their own businesses.
