After 36 years at CVS -- including 16 at the top -- longtime CEO Thomas Ryan stepped down in March. His successor: Larry Merlo, a 20-year company veteran best known for integrating many of the company's recent acquisitions, including the Revco and Eckerd chains.
Merlo inherits the largest pharmacy health care provider in the U.S., with more than 7,100 CVS retail outlets, a leading pharmacy benefits manager, and a health clinic group that includes the fast-growing MinuteClinic chain. His first order of business: breathing new life into CVS stock, which still trades 17% below its 2008 high. --P.N.
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