Officer Elections May 24, 2001 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE At its meeting yesterday morning, the Board of Directors of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company solidified the Company's leadership team with the election of Dr. Surinder Kumar to the newly-created position of Chief Innovation Officer and the promotions of Dushan Petrovich to Senior Vice President - People, Learning and Development; Darrell R. Splithoff to Senior Vice President - Supply Chain and Corporate Development; and Christafor E. Sundstrom to Senior Vice President and Managing Director - Wrigley Healthcare. They join Peter R. Hempstead, Senior Vice President - International; Gary E. McCullough - Senior Vice President - Americas; and Ronald V. Waters - Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in reporting directly to Bill Wrigley, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Kumar joins the Wrigley Company with over 28 years of product innovation experience. Reporting to Dr. Kumar will be research and development, product and technical development, quality assurance and regulatory affairs. Dr. Kumar's most recent position was Senior Vice President of Global Research and Development with the Mead Johnson Division of Bristol-Myers Squibb, a post he held for three years. Prior to joining Bristol-Myers Squibb in 1998, he held senior management positions in Research and Development with PepsiCo and the former Warner-Lambert Company. President and CEO, Bill Wrigley, stated, "I am confident that Dr. Kumar's contributions to the spirit of innovation we are fostering and the future success of our Company will extend far beyond his three-year commitment to our organization." In a further action, the Board of Directors elected the following individuals Vice Presidents of the Company in addition to their current titles: Reuben Gamoran, Vice President and Controller; Howard Malovany, Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel; and Alan J. Schneider, Vice President and Treasurer. These titles recognize the current scope and accountability of their positions. FROM: WM. WRIGLEY JR. COMPANY Christopher J. Perille Director - Corporate Communications Phone: (312) 644-2121 To the extent that statements contained in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements, the following will be deemed to be the Company's meaningful cautionary disclosure regarding such statements. A variety of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results or expectations expressed. The important factors that could affect these outcomes are set forth in Exhibit 99 to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000. << Back