William Wrigley Jr. has left Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., 15 months after the venerable Chicago firm was officially sold to Mars Inc. for $23 billion.
Wrigley, who had stayed on as chairman of Mars’ Chicago-based Wrigley subsidiary, informed Wrigley workers of his departure on Jan. 4, the company confirmed Friday.
Wrigley, whose great-grandfather founded the gum empire, will focus on several business and philanthropic initiatives in Chicago and around the world, the company said.
He was Wrigley’s executive chairman in April 2008 when the sale to Mars was unveiled.
After the deal was completed in October 2008, Wrigley was made chairman of the Wrigley subsidiary and William Perez stayed on as its chief executive.
But Perez left just two weeks after the deal closed, and Dushan “Duke” Petrovich took over as the subsidiary’s president, reporting directly to Paul Michaels, chief executive of privately-held Mars.
There are no plans to appoint a new chairman of Wrigley, the company said.
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