Background
His father, Moses, was Chairman of this company from 1969 to 1975.
His father, Moses, was Chairman of this company from 1969 to 1975.
The Food and Drug Administration approved aspartame"s use in soft drinks in November 1983, and Pepsi was among the first brands to deploy the product on a large scale in the United States.
Before working in this sector he was Vice-President and legal counsel at General Instrument from 1972 to 1979. From 1979 he worked as attorney for the Illinois-based G. Doctorate. Searle. In 1982 he became Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the NutraSweet subsidiary.
When G. Doctorate. Searle was acquired by Monsanto in 1985, Shapiro moved up the management chain in the latter, becoming Vice President in 1990, President in 1993 and Chief Executive Officer in 1995.
He remained Chief Executive Officer of Monsanto until 2000. He oversaw a period of industrial expansion, acquisitions, and consumer regulatory approval for the genetically-engineered seed businesses.
In 2000 Monsanto merged with the United States.-based pharmaceutical company Pharmacia & Upjohn to form Pharmacia Corporation Shapiro became chair of this entity until he stepped down in February 2001.
Fred Hassan became Chief Executive Officer of Pharmacia.
The agricultural business of the merged entity was later spun out of Pharmacia to form Monsanto Company, a business focused on agricultural products. Pharmacia Corporation was subsequently acquired by Pfizer. He is on the board of Conservis, a Sandbox funded firm.
He has a Bachelor from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School.