P RAY ER
Executive turned Whistleblower
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by Charlotte Kovalchuk
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L E A D E RS H IP
ncouraging morality and ethics in leaders while emphasizing the power of prayer have been the goals of the Williamson County Leadership Prayer Breakfast since it began in 2018. "Every decision they make affects all the citizens of the county," event chairman Chris Logue says. "Anytime we can remind them of why they're there, and who they're leading for, God or themselves, we see that as a major win."
Mark Whitacre learned his lesson the hard way after becoming involved in the largest price-fixing scheme in U.S. history and ultimately finding faith and the true meaning of leadership in prison. His journey from "selfish leadership to servant leadership," as he described it at this year's prayer breakfast at the Main Street Baptist Center in March, began at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in 1989, when he became divisional president of the biotech division and corporate vice president of ADM at 32 years old. "I lived in a mansion. I had my own jet. I was making millions of dollars. I had an eight-car garage. I was so selfish and full of myself," he said at the 30
MAY 2022
Chief Allen Banks, Mark Whitacre, Asst. Chief Willie Richards
breakfast that drew 350 business and government leaders like Round Rock Mayor Craig Morgan, Judge Donna King, and Round Rock Police Chief Allen Banks. Two years after working at the food production giant and Fortune 500 company, he was introduced to "how ADM does business," which involved meeting with competitors and fixing prices for ingredients like lysine and high fructose corn syrup. "That's fraud. That's illegal," he told the vice chair, who replied, "Mark, the laws are from the 1800s. Those politicians know nothing about business. In a commodity business, that's what you have to do." Having just received a bonus and told he was being trained to take over as president one day, Mark didn't feel like he was in a position to walk away from this "international cartel." His wife, Ginger, felt differently. She warned that if he didn't turn himself in to the FBI, she would.
"I could go to prison. The CEO is best friends with Clinton. They will destroy us," he said.
"MY CEO IS BIGGER THAN YO U R C E O. M Y C E O I S J E S U S ," WA S H E R RESPONSE. A meeting with the FBI the next day turned into three years of Mark wearing a wire to price-fixing meetings around the world. Compared to wearing a wire, which he calls the toughest three years of his life, "Prison was a cakewalk." While he was promised full immunity by the FBI, fear of the future drove Mark to write company checks for $9 million to himself the day ADM found out he was an informant, leading to an eight-and-a-half year prison sentence. "I thought my life was ending at age 40," he said. Three months into his sentence, Mark surrendered his life to Jesus and began discipling other inmates, calling those eight years the
