CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM I SEPTEMBER 18, 2023
Can Pessina cure Walgreens’ ailing health care push?
2023
The drugstore chain’s executive chairman and largest shareholder launched the transformation plan. With CEO Brewer out, he has to fix it.
Introducing this year’s crop of the 100 Best Places to Work, a collaboration between Crain’s and Best Companies Group I PAGE 15
By Katherine Davis
The abrupt departure of Roz Brewer as CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance leaves Stefano Pessina with the challenge of reviving a sputtering health care transformation strategy he initiated. As executive chairman and Walgreens’ largest shareholder, Pessina likely will have the last word in boardroom deliberations over the company’s future. He’s also accustomed to calling the shots, having held the CEO post for more than five years after merging his European pharmacy company with the American drugstore giant in 2014. “Because of his sharehold-
Stefano Pessina
ings, it’s a little unusual,” says Erik Gordon, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. “It’s more like he is the boss than in a typical setup.” And the Italian billionaire has more at stake than anyone in See WALGREENS on Page 39
Illinois’ homeowners hikes rival those in disaster-prone states Insurers like Allstate have raised premiums here recently by hundreds annually. The industry says climate change is affecting Illinois, too. By Steve Daniels Clockwise from top: Mowery & Schoenfeld’s Hoops for Hope event, Green Office Partner’s tennis wellness program, The Salem Group’s 2022 St. Patrick’s Day costume contest, Horton Helping Hands’ volunteer efforts at Feed Our Starving Children, Radio Flyer’s relay race.
A looming national property insurance crisis is focused mainly on states vulnerable to extreme weather like Florida and California, but surprisingly, insurers are hiking homeowners premiums more in Illinois than all but five other states. Illinois joins Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, Oregon and Utah as the states where homeowners premiums have risen 20% to 30%
since the beginning of 2022, according to an analysis done for The Wall Street Journal. It doesn’t seem surprising to find the five other states on that list. They all are prone to weather catastrophes — hurricanes, wildfires or both. Illinois, on the other hand, is vulnerable to tornadoes and hailstorms. And the tornadoes in Illinois tend to strike relatively See INSURANCE on Page 38
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FALL ARTS GUIDE We can help you figure out what to do in and around Chicago this fall on the arts and culture scene. PAGE 31
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CRAIN’S LIST See our roundup of the highest-paid leaders among the Chicago area’s nonprofit organizations. PAGE 8
Former Big Ten leader Kevin Warren
9/15/23 4:53 PM