Mark Whitacre is an Ivy League Ph.D. and is the highest-ranked executive of any Fortune 500 company to become a whistleblower in US history, and is responsible for uncovering the ADM price-fixing scandal in the early 1990's. Mark Whitacre wore a wire for the FBI every day for three years, the longest duration in USA history.
Mark Whitacre is Executive Director at Coca-Cola Consolidated since December of 2019, and was previously (since 2006) the COO and Chief Science Officer at Cypress Systems, a California biotechnology company. His undercover work with the FBI during the ADM scandal was the inspiration for the major motion picture, "The Informant," starring Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre, and the 2010 Discovery Channel Documentary, "UNDERCOVER” . Drawing from his unique history, Mark provides one-of-a-kind insight into corporate ethics, corporate greed, and the warning signs of a flawed corporate leadership. Mark’s message is very entertaining how he traveled the world wearing a wire for three years for the FBI in one of the largest price fixing cases in U.S. history. But it is also a story of hope, redemption and second chances, and about how his family survived against all odds (he and his wife Ginger are married for 41 years).
After completing B.S. and M.S. degrees at Ohio State University, Mark then earned his PhD. degree at Cornell University in Biochemistry. Mark then worked for multiple Fortune 500 companies including Ralston Purina, Degussa (Evonik), and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). Mark was hired at ADM, a $70 billion company, when he was 32, and as the president of the BioProducts Division from it's launch, was the youngest Divisional President in the history of the company. In just six years, their fermentation complex became one of the largest in the world. At age 35, he became a Corporate Vice President of ADM and was the leading candidate to become the next company president.
Mark Whitacre has extensive international business experience, having lived for almost four years in Germany, working for an international company. He has also been involved with two international companies in the Southeast Asia market and traveled the region dozens of times. Mark's more than three decades of top management experience at Fortune 500 and international companies, as well as his experience with the ADM price-fixing scandal and the FBI, give him a unique, seasoned perspective on leadership in the corporate world. Today, the FBI publicly refer to Mark Whitacre as a national hero. As Douglas Burris, retired Chief of U.S. Federal Probation in the Eastern District of Missouri has stated publicly, "The story about Mark Whitacre's redemption and second chance is one of the most inspirational stories of our time."
