Herbalife was founded by entrepreneur Mark Hughes in California in 1980. Hughes died in 2000. In July 2002, the company was acquired by an investor group led by Whitney & Co LLC and Golden Gate Capital, Inc. In April 2003, Michael O. Johnson joined the company as CEO. Johnson spent 17 years with the Walt Disney Corporation, most recently as president of Disney International, and brought to Herbalife a demonstrated track record of success as a leader and manager, including significant achievements in business building, global operations, sales leadership, marketing and product innovation. In December, 2004, the company conducted a public offering and its shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol HLF. The company had record retail sales of $3.5 billion in 2007.
