10 S. Dearborn St., Chicago 60690; 312-394-7399
Web site: www.ucm.com
Founded: 1887
Employees: 16,716; 16,709 in Illinois
Year-end: Dec. 31
Foreign sales: None of $7.08 billion
Chief executive: John W. Rowe, 52, since March 1998
Cash compensation: N.A.
Options granted: N.A.
Shares owned: 5,000 of 216.8 million
Largest shareholder: N.A.
Stock: 365-day close as of April 15
High: $35.81
Low: $18.62
April 15: $34.37
April 17, 1998, value of $1,000 in company stock:
Purchased 1997: $1,904
Purchased 1993: $1,557
Unicom, whose main subsidiary is Commonwealth Edison Co., is undergoing sweeping change. Vice Chairman Leo Mullin left unexpectedly in mid-1997. Then, chief executive James O’Connor and President Samuel Skinner announced they, too, would leave, too. In March, John Rowe of New England Electric System took over.
Commonwealth Edison, meanwhile, remains mired in a costly and inefficient nuclear power program.
The costly nuclear operations puts Edison at a disadvantage as Illinois begins deregulating the electric-utility industry. Unicom is seeking non-regulated business opportunities.
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A guide to the Top 100 profiles
The Tribune’s business staff profiles the Chicago area’s Top 100 companies, based on market capitalization as of April 15. Here’s a quick primer on the information you’ll find:
– The CEO’s cash compensation, including bonus and other compensation paid in 1997, along with the change from the prior year.
– The figure for the CEO’s stock holdings includes shares the CEO had the right to acquire within 60 days of the proxy statement’s issuance.
– The company’s largest shareholder.
– Estimated current values of stock options granted the CEO, and the change from the prior year, as well as options and stock appreciation rights exercised during the year. In most cases, the value of options granted is based on an assumption of a 5 percent annual rate of stock price growth, or is determined using the Black-Scholes option pricing model.
– Theoretical total-return investment results for shares purchased for $1,000 a year ago and five years ago. The date on which these calculations are based is April 17. The results assume reinvestment of dividends on a quarterly basis.
The information in the profiles was obtained from the following sources:
– Company reports, including annual reports, public stock offering prospectuses and proxy statements.
– Interviews with company officials.
– Reports by securities analysts.
– News reports.
– Bloomberg News, New York.
– “Hoover’s Handbook,” The Reference Press Inc., Austin, Texas.
