J&J CEO likely to weather current woes

In the wake of 11 recalls over the past 12 months, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) chief Bill Weldon (photo) has drawn plenty of unsolicited advice from talking heads and the media--including calls for his resignation. But the company is more likely to ask the 61-year-old Weldon to see J&J through its current quagmire than to force him out, sources tell the Wall Street Journal.

J&J's board probably will ask Weldon "to stick around and fix" the company's problems, one source close to the situation tells the WSJ. And if that's the case, Weldon would do so, according to another source. "There is a kind of competitive streak in him, and he feels he needs to fix" J&J, that person adds.

Weldon wouldn't talk to the WSJ about the company's most recent recalls of contact lenses and medical devices, nor would he address his own plans. But he tells the Associated Press he's determined to reform his company's manufacturing and supply chain. Getting the recalled consumer drugs back into stores is job one, he tells the AP: "From there we will have to go back and earn our reputation." Overall, he tells the news service, J&J has "learned a lot of lessons. They've been very painful."

- get the article from the WSJ
- read the AP story

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