Willis Group Holdings

Willis Group Holdings

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Willis Group Holdings

Type	Public (NYSE: WSH)
Industry	Insurance broking; insurance, reinsurance, risk management, financial and human resource consulting, and actuarial services
Founded	1828, London
Headquarters	The Willis Building, London, United Kingdom (Global headquarters) Willis Tower, Chicago, Illinois (United States headquarters)
Key people	Joe J. Plumeri, Chairman & CEO; Grahame J. Millwater, Group President
Products	Insurance, Risk management, Human resource consulting
Revenue	$2,834 million (2008)
Operating income	$504 million (2008)
Net income	$303 million (2008)
Employees	17,000
Website	willis.com

Willis Group Holdings (NYSE: WSH) is a global insurance broker headquartered in the Willis Building, London, United Kingdom. It has more than 400 offices in 120 countries, and approximately 17,000 employees.^[1] As of June 2010, the company had the third-highest insurance brokerage revenues in the world.^[2][3]
The company acts as an intermediary between its clients and insurance carriers, advising its clients on risk management requirements, helping them determine the best way to manage risk, and negotiating and placing insurance risk with insurance carriers.^[4] It has major clients in the aerospace, marine, construction, and energy industries.^[5]
It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Contents [hide] 1 History 2 Operations 3 External links 4 References

[edit] History

The company was founded by Henry Willis in London in 1828, and initially operated as Henry Willis & Co.^[6] In 1898 it merged with Faber Brothers (founded in 1886) to form Willis Faber,^[6] and then in 1928 it merged with Dumas & Wylie (founded in 1843) to create Willis, Faber & Dumas.^[6] It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1976 as Willis Faber.^[6]
It expanded into the United States in 1990 when it merged with Corroon & Black (founded as R. A. Corroon & Co. in 1905) to form the Willis Corroon Group.^[6] In 1998 in a leveraged buyout the Company was acquired by Trinity Acquisition on behalf of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts,^[6]

and in 1999 the name Willis Group was adopted.^[6] It was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2001.^[6]

Skyline view with Tower 42,
the Willis Building, 30 St Mary Axe,
and the Broadgate Tower, London

Willis moved into the Willis Building, its new London headquarters, in May 2008.^[7]
In October 2008, Willis acquired Hilb, Rogal & Hobbs Co. (HRH), one of the largest insurance and risk management intermediaries in North America.^[8]
The 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago was renamed the Willis Tower in July 2009. Willis secured the naming rights as part of its agreement to lease 140,000 square feet (13,000 m²) of space in the 3,800,000-square-foot (353,000 m²) tower.^[9] It was the world’s tallest building from 1974 until 1998, when it was surpassed by the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[10]

Willis Tower, Chicago

Willis Group Holdings announced plans in 2009 to relocate its headquarters from Bermuda to Ireland.^[11] Its shareholders approved the move in December 2009, and the company announced on December 31, 2009, that its reorganization has been completed and the new parent company of the Willis Group – known as Willis Group Holdings Public Limited Company – is incorporated in Ireland.^[12][13]

[edit] Operations

Willis has 400 offices in 100 countries.^[14]

[edit] External links

	London portal
	Companies portal

• Official website
• Willis SEC Schedule to Form 14d-100, Tender Offer Statement, July 8, 2009

[edit] References

1. ^ “Willis Group Holdings Fact Book”. Willis Group Holdings. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
2. ^ Basic concepts of accounting and taxation of property/casualty insurance companies, Book 2009, p. 6, Insurance Information Institute, ISBN 0932387012. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
3. ^ “.”. The Royal Gazette. October 12, 2009. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
4. ^ Plunkett’s Insurance Industry Almanac 2006: The Only Complete Reference To The Insurance And Risk Management Industry, Jack W. Plunkett, Plunkett Research, Ltd., 2005, ISBN 1593920385, accessed December 17, 2009
5. ^ Plunkett’s Insurance Industry Almanac 2007 (E-Book): Insurance Industry Market Research, Statistics, Trends and Leading Companies, Jack W. Plunkett, Plunkett Research, Ltd., 2006, ISBN 1593924054, accessed December 17, 2009
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Willis: History
7. ^ Crunch? And the Willis building is sold, World Architecture News, May 13, 2008
8. ^ Insurance broker Willis to buy HRH, Business Week, June 2008
9. ^ “Willis Tower Becomes Official: Sears Tower Renamed”, Huffington Post, July 17, 2009
10. ^ Fodor’s Chicago 2010, p. 125, Stephanie Butler, Kelly Kealy, Alexis Kelly, Random House, Inc., 2009, ISBN 1400008603, accessed December 17, 2009
11. ^ Willis Proposes Change in Place of Incorporation to Ireland, Press Release
12. ^ “Willis Investor Relations”, December 31, 2009
13. ^ “Willis Group holders agree to move co. to Ireland”, Associated Press, December 11, 2009, accessed December 17, 2009
14. ^ Willis: The Willis Way

Categories: Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange | Companies established in 1828 | Companies based in London | Insurance companies

Chicago Tylenol murders

Chicago Tylenol murders

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The Chicago Tylenol murders occurred when seven people died after taking pain-relief capsules that had been poisoned. The Tylenol poisonings, code-named TYMURS by the FBI, took place in the autumn of 1982 in the Chicago area of the United States. These poisonings involved Extra-Strength Tylenol medicine capsules which had been laced with potassium cyanide.^[1] The incident led to reforms in the packaging of over-the-counter substances and to federal anti-tampering laws. The case remains unsolved and no suspects have been charged. A $100,000 reward, offered by Johnson & Johnson for the capture and conviction of the “Tylenol Killer,” has never been claimed.

Contents [show] 1 The incidents 1.1 Suspects 2 Aftermath 3 Ongoing investigations 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links

[edit] The incidents

Wednesday morning, September 29, 1982, 12-year-old Mary Kellerman of Elk Grove Village, Illinois, died after taking a capsule of Extra Strength Tylenol. Adam Janus of Arlington Heights, Illinois, died in the hospital shortly thereafter. Adam’s brother Stanley of Lisle, Illinois, and sister-in-law Theresa died after gathering to mourn his death, having taken pills from the same bottle. Soon afterward, Mary McFarland of Elmhurst, Paula Prince of Chicago, and Mary Reiner of Winfield, Illinois, also died in similar incidents.^[2][3] Investigators soon discovered the Tylenol link. Urgent warnings were broadcast, and police drove through Chicago neighborhoods issuing warnings over loudspeakers.

As the tampered bottles came from different factories, and the seven deaths had all occurred in the Chicago area, the possibility of sabotage during production was ruled out. Instead, the culprit was believed to have entered various supermarkets and drug stores over a period of weeks, pilfered packages of Tylenol from the shelves, adulterated their contents with solid cyanide compound at another location, and then replaced the bottles. In addition to the five bottles which led to the victims’ deaths, three other tampered bottles were discovered.

Johnson & Johnson, the parent company of McNeil, distributed warnings to hospitals and distributors and halted Tylenol production and advertising. On October 5, 1982, it issued a nationwide recall of Tylenol products; an estimated 31 million bottles were in circulation, with a retail value of over US$100 million. The company also advertised in the national media for individuals not to consume any products that contained acetaminophen. When it was determined that only capsules were tampered with, they offered to exchange all Tylenol capsules already purchased by the public with solid tablets.

[edit] Suspects

During the initial investigations, a man named James W. Lewis sent a letter to Johnson & Johnson demanding $1 million to stop the cyanide-induced murders. Police were unable to link him with the crimes, as he and his wife were living in New York City at the time. He was convicted of extortion, served 13 years of a 20-year sentence, and was released in 1995 on parole. WCVB Channel 5 of Boston reported that court documents, released in early 2009, “show Department of Justice investigators concluded suspect James W. Lewis, who now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was responsible for the poisonings, despite the fact that they did not have enough evidence to charge him.” Lewis continues to deny responsibility for the poisonings.^[4][5]

A second man, Roger Arnold, was investigated and cleared of the killings; however, the media attention caused him to have a nervous breakdown, and he blamed a bar owner, Marty Sinclair, for the police investigation of him. In the summer of 1983, he shot and killed John Stanisha, whom he mistook for Sinclair, but who was, in fact, an innocent man who did not know Arnold.^[6] Arnold was convicted in January 1984 and served 15 years of a 30-year sentence for second degree murder. He died in June 2008.

Laurie Dann, who poisoned and shot victims in a May 1988 rampage in and around Winnetka, Illinois, was briefly considered as a suspect, but no direct connection was found.^[7]

[edit] Aftermath

The media gave Johnson & Johnson much positive coverage for its handling of the crisis; for example, an article in the Washington Post said, “Johnson & Johnson has effectively demonstrated how a major business ought to handle a disaster.” The article further stated that “this is no Three Mile Island accident in which the company’s response did more damage than the original incident,” and applauded the company for being honest with the public. In addition to issuing the recall, Johnson & Johnson established relations with the Chicago Police, the FBI, and the Food and Drug Administration. This way the company could have a part in searching for the person who laced the Tylenol capsules and they could help prevent further tamperings.^[8]analgesic in the US. While at the time of the scare the market share of Tylenol collapsed from 35% to 8%, it rebounded in less than a year, a move credited to J&J’s prompt and aggressive reaction. In November, it reintroduced capsules but in a new, triple-sealed package, coupled with heavy price promotions and within several years, Tylenol had become the most popular over-the-counter

A number of copycat attacks involving Tylenol and other products (see Stella Nickell for information on the 1986 Excedrin tampering murders) ensued during the following years. One of these incidents occurred in the Chicago area; unlike Tylenol, it actually forced the end of the product affected by the hoax, Encaprin, from Procter & Gamble. However, the incident did inspire the pharmaceutical, food, and consumer product industries to develop tamper-resistant packaging, such as induction seals and improved quality control methods. Moreover, product tampering was made a federal crime.

Additionally, the tragedy prompted the pharmaceutical industry to move away from capsules, which were easy to contaminate as a foreign substance could be placed inside without obvious signs of tampering. Within the year, the Food and Drug Administration introduced more stringent regulations to avoid product tampering. This led to the eventual replacement of the capsule with the solid “caplet”, a tablet made in the shape of a capsule, as a drug delivery form and with the addition of tamper-evident safety-seals to bottles of many sorts.

[edit] Ongoing investigations

In early January 2009, Illinois authorities renewed the investigation. Federal agents searched the home of Lewis in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and seized a number of items.^[9] In Chicago, an FBI spokesman declined to comment but said “we’ll have something to release later possibly.”^[10] Law enforcement officials have received a number of tips related to the case coinciding with its anniversary. In a written statement,^[11] the FBI explained,

This review was prompted, in part, by the recent 25th anniversary of this crime and the resulting publicity. Further, given the many recent advances in forensic technology, it was only natural that a second look be taken at the case and recovered evidence.

In January 2010, both Lewis and his wife submitted DNA samples and fingerprints to authorities.^[5] Lewis stated “if the FBI plays it fair, I have nothing to worry about.”^[5]