Ralcorp's Stellar Dealmaker

Since March, William P. Stiritz, the chairman and chief dealmaker of Ralcorp Holdings (RAH), has spurned two unsolicited takeover offers from ConAgra Foods (CAG). If Stiritz, 76, squeezes a higher price from ConAgra and changes his mind—which analysts including BB&T's Heather Jones say is likely—the sale would cap three decades of dealmaking. "He's probably among the best moneymakers of the past 30 years," says John McMillin, a food industry analyst at Prudential Securities from 1985 to 2007. "He's right up there with [former Nabisco and Gillette (PG) Chief Executive] Jim Kilts and Colgate's (CL) Reuben Mark. He's a Warren Buffett-like character, but stays out of the limelight."

Stiritz, who declined to comment for this story, became chief executive of Ralcorp's predecessor in 1981. Back then, Ralston Purina was a mishmash of unrelated businesses, including the St. Louis Blues hockey team and a mushroom farm. Stiritz jettisoned every piece of Ralston Purina that did not fit his vision of a top-notch consumer products company, including the animal feed business that had been the company's core since its founding in 1894. "He's a focused, numbers-driven guy," says Jim Nichols, who worked for Stiritz for more than 25 years at Ralston and Ralcorp. "He has little emotional attachment to companies."