CJ Fraleigh

Early life

Fraleigh was born in New Jersey, the son of Virginia Hughes and Frank Fraleigh, an Irish-American family. He grew up in Hackettstown, New Jersey and attended Hackettstown High School. Fraleigh received a bachelor of science in Industrial Engineering in 1986 from Lehigh University, followed by an MBA in 1989 from Columbia University.

Career

After leaving university, Fraleigh started at Pepsico in New York, where he worked to develop the 1 liter (33.814 us fl oz) 'Wide Mouth' bottle as a single serving bottle for the US market, first under Mountain Dew. After becoming the VP of Colas, Fraleigh left for General Motors in 2001 where he fought to relaunch the Cadillac brand, working with Led Zeppelin among others to ensure success. He has been credited with turning the brand around. He also orchestrated with Oprah Winfrey the giveaway of a Pontiac G6 to all audience members at a taping of the Oprah Winfrey Show. After becoming the general manager of Pontiac, Buick, and GMC it was said that he, Bob Lutz, and Rick Wagner disagreed on the future direction of the brands, with Fraleigh suggesting that brands needed to be shuttered for the company to stay afloat. Disagreeing with the company, Fraleigh left GM for (now defunct) Downers Grove, Illinois based Sara-Lee, where he oversaw North America with former Pepsico colleague Brenda Barnes. While preparing to split the company in two, the Wall Street Journal widely reported of internal change in direction, with Fraleigh and the board agreeing to part ways. Assuming his current position, he partnered with Windpoint Partners to acquire Ohio-based Shearer's Foods in a bid to create the largest private label snack food manufacturer.

Board roles

Fraleigh has also served on several boards of directors.

Personal life

CJ Fraleigh currently works in Massillon, Ohio, and the rest of his family live in the Chicago area.