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From Whistleblower to Leader: Mark Whitacre Speaks at CCS Chapel
Chattanooga Christian School will welcome Mark Whitacre to the Upper School chapel on Tuesday, Sept. 16. Whitacre will share his experiences and the lessons he has learned about integrity, perseverance, and turning mistakes into opportunities for growth.
Mark Whitacre’s story reads like a movie — and in fact, it is. His journey was dramatized in the 2009 film The Informant!, starring Matt Damon, which portrays the complex mix of courage, flaws, and redemption that define his life. After earning a doctorate in biochemistry from Cornell University, Whitacre worked as an executive for several Fortune 500 companies, including Ralston Purina (now Nestlé), Degussa (now Evonik), and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), where he became President of the biotech division at age 32. He also lived in Germany for four years while working at Evonik’s headquarters in Frankfurt.
In the early 1990s, Mark became a whistleblower, exposing a massive price-fixing scandal in the lysine industry while at ADM. For three years, he secretly recorded executives for the FBI, helping bring one of the largest corporate antitrust cases in U.S. history. ADM ultimately paid over $100 million in fines and settlements. During the same period, Mark was also embezzling funds from the company, which led to convictions for wire fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering, resulting in a federal prison sentence of more than eight years.
Following his release, Whitacre embarked on a path of redemption and leadership. From 2006 to 2013, he served as chief operating officer (COO) and chief science officer at Cypress Systems, Inc., a California faith-based biotechnology company, where he still serves on the advisory council. From 2013 to 2019, he was national director and then COO of Christian Business Men’s Connection in Chattanooga. Today, Whitacre is vice president of culture & care and executive director of the t-factor initiative at Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc., a faith-friendly, publicly traded company with the stated purpose: “To honor God in all we do, by serving others, pursuing excellence, and growing profitably.”
For the past 20 years, Mark has been actively engaged with the Faith and Work movement, inspiring others to integrate faith and integrity into the workplace.
Whitacre’s life is a testament to the power of accountability, faith, and personal transformation — a reminder that it’s never too late to turn a life around.
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Mark Whitacre’s story reads like a movie — and in fact, it is. His journey was dramatized in the 2009 film The Informant!, starring Matt Damon, which portrays the complex mix of courage, flaws, and redemption that define his life. After earning a doctorate in biochemistry from Cornell University, Whitacre worked as an executive for several Fortune 500 companies, including Ralston Purina (now Nestlé), Degussa (now Evonik), and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), where he became President of the biotech division at age 32. He also lived in Germany for four years while working at Evonik’s headquarters in Frankfurt.
In the early 1990s, Mark became a whistleblower, exposing a massive price-fixing scandal in the lysine industry while at ADM. For three years, he secretly recorded executives for the FBI, helping bring one of the largest corporate antitrust cases in U.S. history. ADM ultimately paid over $100 million in fines and settlements. During the same period, Mark was also embezzling funds from the company, which led to convictions for wire fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering, resulting in a federal prison sentence of more than eight years.
Following his release, Whitacre embarked on a path of redemption and leadership. From 2006 to 2013, he served as chief operating officer (COO) and chief science officer at Cypress Systems, Inc., a California faith-based biotechnology company, where he still serves on the advisory council. From 2013 to 2019, he was national director and then COO of Christian Business Men’s Connection in Chattanooga. Today, Whitacre is vice president of culture & care and executive director of the t-factor initiative at Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc., a faith-friendly, publicly traded company with the stated purpose: “To honor God in all we do, by serving others, pursuing excellence, and growing profitably.”
For the past 20 years, Mark has been actively engaged with the Faith and Work movement, inspiring others to integrate faith and integrity into the workplace.
Whitacre’s life is a testament to the power of accountability, faith, and personal transformation — a reminder that it’s never too late to turn a life around.
