Former Top CVS Executive Foulkes Considering Gubernatorial Run
Tuesday, August 03, 2021
Helena Foulkes, a former top CVS executive and, for a short period the CEO of Canadian-based Hudson's Bay Company, has been considering a run for the governorship of Rhode Island.
A Foulkes candidacy in the Democratic primary would throw the present political dynamics into turmoil.
Foulkes was born into Democratic Party royalty. Her grandfather was the late U.S. Senator Thomas Dodd (D-CT), her uncle is retired U.S. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), and her late mother Martha Buonanno was college roommates with Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at Trinity College in Washington, D.C.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe senior Senator Dodd was not without controversy — In 1967 he became the first Senator censured by the U.S. Senate since Joseph McCarthy in 1954. He later lost his seat in the Senate to Lowell Weicker (R-CT).
Short-Lived at Hudson
Her tenure at Hudson — owners of Saks Fifth Avenue and numerous other retail brands — was short. She lasted just two years and received big compensation and a massive payout.
According to the Wall Street Journal, under Foulkes’ management the company’s losses continued to grow, “The net loss widened to C$935 million from C$823 million a year earlier.”
Her salary during her last year at the company was $29.5 million.
Since her departure, she has done a range of high-profile interviews with business publications including an "exit interview" piece with Fortune.
In April of 2021, she was named chair of the board of overseers at Harvard.
GoLocal has learned that a third-party group conducted a poll in July in Rhode Island to evaluate the weaknesses of the existing Democrats and the potential viability of a Foulkes run.
According to two sources with first-hand knowledge, Foulkes has not made a final decision about a 2022 run. Her self-imposed deadline had been her birthday in July, but she has not told advisors of her decision.
Foulkes is a graduate of Harvard and Harvard Business School. She grew up on Providence's East Side and attended the Lincoln School.
Foulkes did not respond to request for comment via phone and text.
Widely Lauded
Working Mother wrote about Foulkes:
"A few years back, the Harvard MBA, cancer survivor and marathoner was also instrumental in the decision to ban tobacco sales and to move all healthier food options to the front of the store. Reportedly courted by Uber to be its next CEO, Helena told Shared Value Initiative that CVS Health’s strategy isn’t about driving revenue or filling as many scripts as possible; it’s to 'reinvent pharmacy to extend the front lines of care.' From the looks of things, she’s well on her way to meeting her objective.
The Wall Street Journal wrote when Foulkes was appointed to the helm of Hudson, "She is a sought-after executive who has worked to overhaul CVS’s retail business amid competition from Amazon.com Inc., adding more health-conscious options and making over stores with a greater emphasis on health and beauty. Ms. Foulkes last year was considered by Uber Technologies Inc. to be the No. 2 to Chief Executive Travis Kalanick before he resigned amid investor pressure.".
In 2014, GoLocal called her one of the 15 to Watch in 2015, writing:
This past January, Foulkes became President of CVS/pharmacy -- and promptly found herself launched to the #26 spot on Fortune Magazine's Most Powerful Women in Business for 2014.
Of the $65.6 billion CVS retail business, Fortune wrote, "Overseeing more than 7,700 pharmacies serving more than 5 million people every day, Foulkes was a key architect of the company’s decision in February to become the first pharmacy chain to stop selling tobacco products. In September the company renamed itself CVS Health, in part to reflect the change in strategy."
Over the course of her twenty-year career with the company, Foulkes has played an important leadership role in growing CVS from its retail beginnings to the largest pharmacy health care provider in the United States.
