Ralph Larsen, the former chief executive officer at Johnson & Johnson whose strategy of growth through acquisitions propelled the company to become the nation’s fourth-largest maker of prescription drugs and the world’s biggest provider of medical supplies and devices by the time he stepped down in 2002, has died. He was 77.
He died Wednesday at his home in Naples, Florida, according to an e-mailed statement from his family. The cause was cardiac arrest.
During Larsen’s 13-year tenure as CEO, New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J spent $21.7 billion to acquire more than 40 companies, building an enterprise that sold products as diverse as Band-Aid adhesive bandages, hip implants and drugs. He also reduced operating costs by $2 billion from 1994 to 1999, enabling J&J to compete more aggressively in the personal care market, according to his profile on Harvard Business School’s website. J&J’s market value was $196.9 billion when he retired, up from $14.7 billion when he took control in 1989.
