Specialising in casual clothing, Mr Bill Farley, who won the Ireland-US Council's Award for Outstanding Achievement in 1993, transformed the Donegal textile firm, McCarters Ireland, he acquired 10 years ago.
Under the Fruit of the Loom brand, he has increased output by a factor of 20 and raised the number of employees there to 3,500 as the operations in Co Donegal and Co Derry developed.
The Annual Award for Outstanding Achievement is made to individuals who have contributed to increasing business ties between the US and Ireland.
Mr Farley, chairman and chief executive of Fruit of the Loom, was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and became a graduate of Bowdoin College and the Jesuit Boston College.
His Chicago-based company has gradually been shifting operations to low-cost overseas locations. Now over two-thirds of its output is produced in non-US locations, mostly in Mexico and the Caribbean Basin.
Mr Farley began his career at the mergers and acquisitions department of NL Industries' metals group, joining the investment banking firm Lehman Brothers a year later.
He made his name and fortune with a series of acquisitions, starting with Anaheim Citrus Products (ACP) through a leveraged buyout, while he was still at Lehman. The return on his personal $25,000 (£17,000) investment in 1976 became the basis for further acquisitions, including a $1.4 billion buyout of Northwest Industries in 1985, and, in 1987, Fruit of the Loom, which was floated on the stock exchange for $565 million.
The stock of the textile company rose by more than 50 per cent in 1996 amid a successful restructuring and boosted profit margins. The company turned around its balance sheet for the year, increasing sales turnover by 2 per cent and making a $151.2 million profit. This was in contrast to the $232.5 million net loss of 1995.
Mr Farley made a profit on share options of $34.1 million in 1996 for a four-year period when the company only made a return of 14.8 per cent for shareholders. The same year his remuneration package, including stock options, was $16.4 million, as CEO, topping the Crain Chicago Business Fortunate 100 top paid CEOs.
But the turnaround followed a period of mixed fortunes: Between 1992 and 1994 a multi-million dollar spend on acquiring such companies as Pro Player and Gitano left the company vulnerable, with long-term debt at 128 per cent of equity. Sales did badly and the stock price fell by over 50 per cent to $16.50 in October 1995. Its restructuring programme saw 23 plants close and 8,000 employees laid off.
The company is now concentrating on debt reduction, marketing new products and organic growth.
