Donald Knauss

Knauss has a BA in history from Indiana University Bloomington, graduating in 1977.

Knauss commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, initially serving in Hawaii in 1978 as an Artillery Officer; he left in 1981 and took up a position with Procter & Gamble.

Knauss worked for Frito-Lay and Tropicana, mainly in marketing, although he also was head of the southeast sales department for Frito-Lay.

Knauss was head of the North American operations of The Coca-Cola Company.

In 2006, Knauss became the Chief Executive Officer of Clorox. According to Forbes he received $21.8 million compensation from 2007 to 2012; $6.37m remuneration in 2012, making him the 11th highest-earning CEO in household and personal products.

In November 2014, Knauss stepped down as CEO of Clorox but remained as chairman. Knauss was succeeded by Benno Dorer, who had been Clorox's executive VP and chief operating officer.

Knauss holds key roles at three companies: Clorox Company (director and chairman of the board), McKesson Corporation (independent director), URS Corporation (director) and Kellogg Company (director). In addition, in 2014 he was appointed to the newly created position at Clorox of executive chairman. While CEO at Clorox, Knauss led the 2007 purchase of Burt's Bees for $925m, which was in response to the firm's sluggish growth in other areas.

In the fiscal year of 2014, with Knauss in these executive roles, Clorox generated $5.6bn.