The CEO’s Blog
Leonard Green & Partners
by John Mackey, November 7, 2008 | Permalink
I’m really excited to announce that Leonard Green & Partners has invested $425 million in Whole Foods Market (a 17% percent ownership). We are pleased that Leonard Green, one of the most experienced and successful investors in the retail industry, has decided to make such a significant investment in our company. We view this as a strong vote of confidence in our business model and our long-term growth prospects, despite the tough current economic environment. This equity infusion, combined with our strong cash flow from operations, gives us the financial flexibility to manage through these difficult times while continuing to prudently invest in our long-term growth as we remain committed to our mission and core values. For my further thoughts, check out this video.
Invitation to FLOW Speech in Austin
by John Mackey, June 5, 2008 | Permalink
Just a quick heads up that John Mackey will be speaking on Conscious Capitalism in Austin, Texas on June 12, 2008. It’s actually rare to have the opportunity to hear John speak in his hometown. The event serves as a fundraiser for FLOW, a non-profit organization that John co-founded in 2004. John’s talk will be followed by an extensive dialogue with Tami Simon, CEO of Sounds True; questions from the audience are invited. Click here for more specifics and to buy tickets. A limited number are still available. For those not in Austin, stay tuned for a multiple CD recording of the event to be released in 2009.
Bentley College Commencement Speech
by John Mackey, May 21, 2008 | Permalink
On Saturday, May 17, 2008, John Mackey delivered the following remarks to the graduating class at Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts.
I want to begin by thanking Bentley College’s President, Gloria Larson, for inviting me to be with you today and for Professor Rajendra Sisodia for recommending me as a speaker to President Larson. It is a great honor to be with all of you on this special occasion. I want to congratulate all of the students who are graduating. You have all accomplished something that I never have accomplished in my own life—finishing college. In the early 1970’s I attended two universities in Texas, Trinity in San Antonio and the University of Texas in Austin. I dropped in and out of these two schools a half dozen times over a 6 year period, piling up about 120 hours in various electives. I only took classes I was interested in, primarily philosophy, religion, and the humanities. To be perfectly honest with you, I spent my late teens and very early twenties primarily trying to figure out the meaning of life, or at least the meaning of my own life. I never took any business classes in school and if someone had told me back then that I was going to become a business entrepreneur when I was 24 and start my own business I would have laughed them out of the room.
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Back To Blogging
by John Mackey, May 21, 2008 | Permalink
I can’t tell you how good it feels to be able to write in my blog again. Even though I wanted to respond openly and truthfully when confronted by the various accusations of wrongdoing last year, our attorneys and Board of Directors both thought it best for me to hold off while they conducted their Special Investigation and the SEC handled its inquiry. Those matters now are completed with the board affirming their complete support for me and the SEC recommending that no enforcement action be made against Whole Foods Market or me. Now that I’m free to post again, I am going to attempt to set the record straight about my internet postings in the past under the screen name “rahodeb.” I promise I’ll be moving on to other topics, but indulge me while I finally get to share my point of view on this particular topic. Here it goes…
WHY POST ONLINE?
When I first discovered the Whole Foods Market online community at Yahoo! sometime back in 1997 or 1998, I was very excited to find a community that discussed Whole Foods Market. It was a very useful forum for me to explore various ideas and theories, and to have them discussed, criticized and debated. Online criticisms and debates helped me to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the ideas being discussed, including my own. I could participate in the community as just another unknown participant on equal terms with every other participant.
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Temporary Hold On My Blog
by John Mackey, July 17, 2007 | Permalink
Dear Stakeholders,
A Special Committee of our Board of Directors’ is conducting an independent internal investigation into online financial message board postings related to Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats Markets. In light of this, it is in the best interest of the company to temporarily hold off on posting on my Company blog. The ability to post comments to this blog will be disabled during this time as well. I look forward to resuming our conversations and plan on being in touch with you again soon.
Best regards,
John
Questions From My Blog On Wild Oats Merger
by John Mackey, June 27, 2007 | Permalink
By John Mackey
First I want to express my appreciation to everyone who sent positive and supportive comments on my blog posting. I really appreciate your kind thoughts and your good will. I won’t respond to your comments below because there is nothing more that I can really add to what I just said. However, I want you to know that I really appreciate your support even if I don’t respond directly to your comment. Thank you very much.
The response to my blog, and the interest and passion the FTC’s complaint against the Whole Foods Market/Wild Oats merger has generated is fascinating. I find the great majority of passionate comments, e-mails, and letters fall into one of five categories:
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Whole Foods Market, Wild Oats, and The Federal Trade Commission
by John Mackey, June 19, 2007 | Permalink
by John Mackey
Executive Summary
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently filed a complaint challenging the merger of Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats. Whole Foods Market intends to fight this complaint in court. My blog posting provides a detailed look into Whole Foods Market’s decision-making process regarding the merger, as well as our company’s experience interacting with the FTC staff assigned to this merger. I provide explanations of how I think the FTC, to date, has neglected to do its homework appropriately, especially given the statements made regarding prices, quality, and service levels in its complaint. I also provide a glimpse into the bullying tactics used against Whole Foods Market by this taxpayer-funded agency. Finally, I provide answers in my FAQ section to many of the questions that various Team Members have fielded from both the media and company stakeholders.
As stated in our initial press release about Whole Foods Market’s challenge to the FTC’s complaint, we set an intention as a company to be as transparent as possible throughout this process. This is my first detailed effort at transparency. We will provide additional information as we field new questions and receive updates on the proceedings from the FTC and the courts.
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Whole Foods Responds to FTC
by John Mackey, June 14, 2007 | Permalink
Many of you have probably heard about the FTC challenging our proposed merger with Wild Oats. Here’s a link to some detailed information that we presented to the FTC summarizing our case. Watch for a more extensive blog post from me next week.
Past, Present and Future of Food
by John Mackey, March 13, 2007 | Permalink
As part of a recent public dialogue with Michael Pollan, I presented a slide show on the Past, Present and Future of Food. This slide show, as well as a link to a recorded version of the presentation and subsequent discussion with Pollan, are included in this blog post.
As an introduction to this material, I am sharing part of a monthly newsletter authored by Michael Strong, CEO and Chief Visionary for FLOW, a social entrepreneurial group I co-founded. He speaks to the events leading up to the conversation with Michael Pollan in Berkeley on February 27, 2007, as well as the greater meaning of the ongoing dialogue. Strong’s article adeptly references the linkage between this current presentation and my previous blog post on Conscious Capitalism. I invite you to read it with those things in mind while I work on an expanded, written version of my presentation to be posted on my blog in the near future.
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Conscious Capitalism: Creating a New Paradigm for Business
by John Mackey, November 9, 2006 | Permalink
Hi Everyone,
I’ve been very gratified and impressed with your responses to my dialogue exchange with Michael Pollan over the last six months. The following lengthy essay is something I have been working on for several months; the ideas have been gestating for many years. The topic is Conscious Capitalism and I encourage you to read this material with your mind open to the possibilities inherent in these ideas. The essay is long and it may take extended time and concentration on your part to read. However, I think the ideas I articulate here are important ideas and they deserve to be read by an intelligent and critical audience.
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