As the head of investor relations at a $25 billion global healthcare company, I tend to think of things in terms of – you guessed it. Investments.
One concept I had the chance to think on this past Father’s Day is the fact that there is no greater investment one makes in life than in their children.
It’s not a selfish thing (OK, yes, perhaps we hope they can help care for us as we age) – but really, this is an investment in our families, in the future – even in what the world can be.
This Father’s Day, I had a chance to spend time outdoors at a lake with my wife and our three children. I couldn’t help but reflect on how proud I am each time they try a new activity or adventure – most recently one of my daughters took a jet ski out on her own and my kids tried zip lining.
And last Thursday, I got to address about 130 Abbott employees and their dads who visited us at our headquarters for a Bring Your Dad to Work barbecue (playing off the take-your-child-to-work-day concept).
I spoke to them about who Abbott is and the amazing things we do for people’s health around the world. I told them what makes any of this possible is our people -- and their work ethic. Our dads often show us how to work hard by modeling it themselves. I know that was the case with my dad, and clearly it’s been the case for many Abbott employees.
That work ethic has translated to decades – almost 130 years, actually – of success for Abbott, where we’ve seen huge growth in value.
Since 1998, our sales have grown from $12.5 billion to $25.4 billion ($51 billion if you include AbbVie, the proprietary pharma business we spun off in 2013). Our mix has shifted from 60 percent in the U.S. to 65 percent outside of the U.S., to reflect the changing global business landscape. Our market cap (again, including AbbVie for apples-to-apples) has more than doubled since we strategically split with the pharma business and our combined market cap since Miles White became CEO has nearly tripled from $74 billion to $212 billion (including AbbVie and Hospira). We’ve met or beaten Street adjusted EPS estimates every quarter for the last 10 years.
And it’s all because we know how to work hard. We hire people who get the job done, and get it done well.
Our dads so often have an essential role in who we become. So thanks to all the dads out there who’ve shown their kids how to work hard – and especially those who’ve helped make Abbott what it is today.
