Michael Hogan, who announced plans earlier this year to retire, is leaving his successor a business that's doubled its profits in the last nine years and continues its international expansion.
When Hogan came to Sigma-Aldrich in 1999, the company earned $148.6 million on sales of $1 billion, with 55 percent coming from outside the United States. Last year, the chemical company's profit topped $311 million on sales of nearly $2 billion, with 64 percent coming from overseas.
During his tenure, Sigma's stock has nearly quadrupled, going from about $14.50 when he joined the company to its current price of about $58 a share.
The growth of Sigma-Aldrich's international business started before Hogan arrived, but he helped refine a management team that systematically looked at acquisitions and ways to expand. The company has nearly 7,900 employees.
"Everything is more global," said Hogan, 55, who has agreed to stay at Sigma-Aldrich until it identifies his successor.
He called international expansion one of the two biggest trends facing businesses today. The other, which impacts CFOs at public companies such as Sigma-Aldrich, is the increased amount of government regulation. Much of it has been put in place in the last decade in response to excesses at companies such as Enron and WorldCom.
"Some is useful and some is required," he said. "I'm not making a judgment call on whether it's good or bad. It just is." His path to becoming a CFO took hold in the 1980s after working for the insurance subsidiary of a bank in Minnesota, where he was buying and selling insurance agencies. He answered a call from a headhunter who had an offer from General American. Hogan took a position in the life and health insurance business and eventually led several of the company's business units before being recruited to the old Monsanto Co. as controller in 1996.
In addition to his work at Sigma-Aldrich, Hogan has been a sought after director for other financial businesses, including Allegiant Bancorp, which was sold to National City in 2004. He currently sits on the board of Pulaski Financial Corp.
"Hogan's contributions as a CFO come on many different levels," said Fred Bartelsmeyer, an attorney at Bryan Cave who has worked with Hogan both at Sigma-Aldrich and as volunteer members of the World Trade Center Saint Louis board. "He has led acquisition teams, worked closely on investor relations and staff relations, and has mentored new stars at the company."
In addition, Hogan's activities outside of Sigma-Aldrich read like a "how to" guide for civic volunteer efforts.
He is the current president of the World Trade Center Saint Louis board. Hogan has been active in the United Way of Greater St. Louis, including its audit committee. He also has been on the board of the Washington University Olin School of Business National Council and has served on the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Muscular Dystrophy Association of St. Louis. In the past, he has served organizations such as Focus St. Louis, the Combined Health Appeal of St. Louis and the Wyman Center. He remains active with the Small World Adoption Foundation and other charities.
Hogan said he plans to remain active on several volunteer boards during his retirement, and he will run the Sigma-Aldrich Foundation, which he co-founded in 2004 with the company's chairman, David Harvey. He also said he will begin shifting to what he called his "bucket list that will take 30 years to complete."
Hogan said, "My wife made me promise I would not be replacing full-time work that paid well, with part-time work that paid nothing."