John B. Wilson

the Top 50 CFOs by CFO Magazine and has consistently demonstrated a track record for cutting costs and increasing company profits considerably.

In 1990, Mr. Wilson became the Senior Vice President for Northwest Airlines, where he assisted the company by cutting costs by 20% averting it from bankruptcy. Over the next few years, John B. Wilson exerted his knowledge of turnaround and business development as CFO and EVP of Finance and Strategy at Staples, Inc. During this time he was named one of the Top 50 CFOs in the U.S. and completed nine acquisitions, tripled store growth, regained industry leadership, and grew total sales from $450 million to over $4 billion in just a little over three years. Shortly thereafter, John decided to leave Staples to help increase sales at Gap, Inc. and Hyannis Port Capital, Inc. However, in 2012 he returned to Staples as President and Head of Global Transformation of Staples International. John B. Wilson’s most notable achievements include developing a five-year turnaround plan; the implementation of a new operating model which improved costs; the replacement/upgrade of 80% of the managing director leaders cutting the total costs by 20%; created a new online platform for all markets; stabilized the European market; and returned the market to profitability. Through his leadership and vision, Staples International was the only company on the global market to beat both budget and previous year profits, a feat not lightly achieved.

John B. Wilson has worked in or visited over 80 countries spanning six continents throughout his lifetime. Outside of work, John is a member of many boards including the World Presidents Organization and several private companies with sales between $5-400 million. Previously, John was the Lead Director and Audit Committee Chair of the Franklin Templeton, a mutual fund board. John enjoys keeping his hobbies diverse and is talented in many areas such as SCUBA diving, ballroom dancing, drawing, ocean sports, skiing, and flying. John is a PADI Open Water certified diver with over 20 years of experience and logged dives all over the globe. He also participates in competitive sailing, power boating, and fishing. While earning his business degree at Harvard, he was also a ballroom dance instructor. No matter the season John B. Wilson loves to stay in shape and enjoys spending time in the great outdoors. Skiing is his favorite winter sport, and he has been skiing all over Europe and North America. The talent does not end there; John is also a licensed pilot of VFR single engine aircraft.