William Wrigley, Jr. II a.k.a. Bill Wrigley, Jr., is the current chairman and former CEO of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company

Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company

The William Wrigley Jr. Company is a company headquartered in the Wrigley Building in Near North Side, Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded on April 1, 1891, originally selling products such as soap and baking powder. In 1892, William Wrigley, Jr., the company's founder, began packaging...

. He turned over the office of CEO to William Perez

William Perez

- Greenhill & Co. :On January 11, 2010, William D. Perez joined Greenhill & Co. as a senior advisor.- Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company :On October 3, 2006, William D. Perez succeeded William Wrigley, Jr. II as CEO of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, the world's largest chewing-gum manufacturer. He was the first...

 on October 23, 2006. Perez, former CEO of Nike

Nike, Inc.

Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

 and SC Johnson, was the first non-Wrigley head of the company.

A graduate of the Wharton School of Business, Duke University

Duke University

Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...

 and Phoenix Country Day School

Phoenix Country Day School

Phoenix Country Day School is an independent, nonsectarian, college-preparatory private school in the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area; the school has an approximate total enrollment of 700 in pre-kindergarten through Grade 12. The Upper School has 239 students with around 60 students in each...

 in Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

, Bill, Jr. is the son of William Wrigley III

William Wrigley III

William Wrigley III, known as William Wrigley, was President of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, founded by his grandfather William Wrigley, Jr. from 1961 until his death from pneumonia in March 1999. His father P.K. Wrigley preceded him as president. He was succeeded by his son Bill Wrigley, Jr. as...

 (1933–1999), the grandson of Philip K. Wrigley

Philip K. Wrigley

Philip Knight Wrigley , sometimes also called P.K. or Phil. Born in Chicago, he was an American chewing gum manufacturer and executive in Major League Baseball, inheriting both those roles as the quiet son of his much more flamboyant father, William Wrigley Jr. After his father died in 1932, Philip...

 (1894–1977) and the great-grandson of William Wrigley, Jr. (1861–1932).

Under his leadership the company expanded beyond chewing gum

Chewing gum

Chewing gum is a type of gum traditionally made of chicle, a natural latex product, or synthetic rubber known as polyisobutylene. For economical and quality reasons, many modern chewing gums use rubber instead of chicle...

 by purchasing Altoids

Altoids

-Flavors and varieties:-Mints:Altoids mints are available in eight flavors: peppermint, wintergreen, spearmint, cinnamon, ginger, liquorice, crème de menthe and cool honey. "Sugar-Free Smalls", tiny square mints sweetened with sorbitol and sucralose, are also available in peppermint, wintergreen,...

 and Life Savers

Life Savers

Life Savers is an American brand of ring-shaped mints and artificially fruit-flavored hard candy. The candy is known for its distinctive packaging, coming in aluminum foil rolls....

 from Kraft Foods

Kraft Foods

Kraft Foods Inc. is an American confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It markets many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earn more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang...

' candy division.

In an e-mail to Wrigley employees dated January 4, 2010, he announced his intention to step down as chairman "as of this month".

Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company career

• Joined in 1985
• Director since 1988
• Vice President (1991–1998)
• Senior Vice President (1999)
• President & Chief Executive Officer (1999–2006)
• Chairman of the Board since 2004
• Executive Chairman since 2006