Stanley Gault
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stanley C. Gault (born 1926 in Wooster, Ohio, to Clyde and Asenath Gault) spent 31 years with General Electric before being named Chairman of the Board and CEO of Rubbermaid from 1981-1991. He became CEO and Chairman of The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company from 1991-1996. Since 1985, he has been a director at Avon Products, Inc. A graduate of the College of Wooster, remains as Chairman Emeritus of the Board.
Gault shot to fame in the 1980s, taking the helm of the Rubbermaid company his father helped to found. Gault was instrumental in reorganizing and revitalizing Rubbermaid from a small household gadget company into a streamlined and efficient multinational corporation. He embarked on a dual plan of divestiture and strategic investment that generated a 4-fold increase in revenues and a 6-fold increase in profitability. While he stripped weak product lines and slashed excess cost, he invested in new product development. At one point, Rubbermaid turned out more than one product a day.
He was heralded as a business genious in the 1980s for his transformation of Rubbermaid. However, his leadership has since been criticized because Gault's successor was less than adequate and Rubbermaid ended up being bought in 1999 by its competitor Newell.[1]
Since his retirement, Mr. Gault had devoted himself to philanthropic causes, and he has been a major donor to the College of Wooster and many local non profit agencies.
