When Mark took over in 1984, the consumer goods giant was in the midst of trying to reinvent itself. The company had grown tremendously in the 70s through a series of less than stellar acquisitions and one of Mark’s first tasks was to sell off those subsidiaries that were not performing well. Restructuring continued with several rounds of lay-offs, plant closings and reconfigurations. Finally satisfied, Mark began investing again and engineered Colgate’s acquisition of Mennen in 1992. Other international purchases followed and these acquisitions, coupled with increased marketing efforts behind its core profitable brands, helped the firm reach profitability.