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Lewis Platt, WG'66
By Sharon L. Crenson
Did Someone Say 'Retirement?'
It wasn't Lewis Platt. Lewis Platt, WG'66,
has had a CEO's view of Hewlett-Packard,
a director's seat at 7-Eleven, and a high
profile post atop of one of the most
controversial institutions of international
commerce: the World Trade Organization.
A former colleague calls the Wharton alumnus a quick study
with a personal touch.
"He has an inquiring mind, a deep sense of community,
and a touching humility, being not afraid to show his emotions,"
says John Grant, who served with Platt at Kendall-
Jackson Wine Estates during the Wharton MBA's brief detour
leading that small, privately run company.
Now Platt has returned to the corporate big-time, helping
steer a huge publicly traded company. He's back in the
spotlight, some would say back in the hot seat, this time as
non-executive chairman of a recovering American icon: The
Boeing Company.
Given Boeing's recent turmoil, it's a job some would envy,
and some would not. The company's earnings are down,
but its stock price is steadily up. It has shed some 4,000
commercial jobs in recent years, but is now hiring. "I think
we've made a lot of progress," Platt says of the struggles
he has helped Boeing through over the past year and a half.
Platt certainly has experience taking companies in new
directions. One of his last projects at Hewlett-Packard was
to spin off Agilent Technologies, a landmark decision since
splitting a successful company in two ran counter to the
mergers and acquisitions craze of the time. The move divided
Hewlett-Packard's computer and printing business from
the measurement business responsible for products such as
semiconductor testing devices. The split become a model for
other corporate divorces.
As if his glass wasn't already full at Boeing, Platt is also
continuing his high-profile Wharton roles as an overseer
and as chairman of the Alumni Advisory Board supporting
Wharton West, Wharton's first-ever permanent, out-of-state
satellite location. Conceived to support connections with
some 8,000 Wharton alumni in the Western U.S. and more
than 3,600 in Asia, the San Francisco campus allows access
to academic programs and research to thousands of potential
new students. "It's time to give something back," Platt
says. "I'm very proud of the fact that we've established a
successful campus out here."
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