John M. Cook
Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (Retired July 2005)
PRG- Schultz International, Inc.
Board Member, Open Learning Exchange, Inc.
As chief financial officer of a large retail corporation in the 80’s, John Cook had a strategic vision that technology could completely change the accounts payable and cost recovery services industry. Cook’s vision became a reality in 1991, when he co-founded The Profit Recovery Group International, Inc. (PRG) after merging two small accounts payable audit firms he had purchased—Roy Greene Associates and Bottom Line Associates.
Cook guided PRG from a small enterprise with $5 million in annual revenues into an international, publicly held corporation with 2004 revenues of approximately $357 million. On January 24, 2002, Cook took another monumental step in the industry by merging the world’s two largest recovery audit firms, The Profit Recovery Group (PRG) and Howard Schultz & Associates (HS&A), to form PRG-Schultz, the world leader in recovery auditing, which operates in over 40 countries and has approximately 2,800 employees.
In June 1999, Cook was named Ernst & Young, LLP, Regional Entrepreneur of the Year for the Financial Services category and was inducted into the Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.
Prior to PRG-Schultz, Cook held a number of top financial and management positions in the retail industry, including senior vice president and chief financial officer of Caldor Stores, a division of The May Department Stores Co., and senior vice president of finance of Kaufmann’s Department Stores, another May division. He also held a position as president of Eaton Corp.’s Car Repair division.
With PRG-Schultz headquarters in Atlanta, Cook is actively involved in the Atlanta community, serving on the board of trustees of the city’s Woodruff Arts Center and on the board of directors of the High Museum of Art. He is a member of the advisory board of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, The Carter Center’s board of councilors, and the board of directors of Atlanta-based CryoLife, Inc., a biotechnology firm, serving on its audit and compensation committees.
Cook has been the primary benefactor of the Human Development Foundation of Bangkok (Thailand), which supports Mercy Centre, Bangkok’s first AIDS hospice, which focuses on children and mothers with the disease. Seeking to alleviate the suffering of children in Klong Toey, Bangkok’s largest slum community, Mercy Centre also operates an orphanage and a series of schools, helping over 5,000 children a year to qualify for public education.
Cook founded and serves as chairman of the board of the South Asia Children’s Fund, which supports innovative educational programs for disadvantaged children, primarily in Nepal and India.
Cook holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Saint Louis University. He is a member of the University’s board of trustees and serves on the executive advisory board of its school of business and administration, which was renamed the John Cook School of Business in recognition of his notable contributions to the University.
