Sara Lee Corporation Names Van Lede to Board of Directors.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 31, 2002

Sara Lee Corporation announced today that Cornelis J.A. van Lede has been elected a director of the corporation, effective immediately. This appointment is in addition to the 13 directors who were re-elected today at the company's Annual Meeting of Stockholders, bringing the number of Sara Lee Corporation directors to 14. Each director's term lasts until the 2003 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Van Lede, 59, is chairman of the Board of Management and chief executive officer of Akzo Nobel N.V., a Netherlands-based manufacturer and worldwide distributor of healthcare products, coatings and chemicals. He also serves as a member of the Supervisory Board of Sara Lee/DE, a division of Sara Lee based in the Netherlands.

"Cornelis van Lede brings exceptional expertise in international business to Sara Lee," said C. Steven McMillan, chairman, president and CEO of Sara Lee Corporation. "He has served as a valued member of Sara Lee/DE's Supervisory Board and his experience and diverse business background will be a significant asset to the corporation's Board of Directors."

Since joining Akzo Nobel N.V., in 1991, van Lede has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility at the company. He was selected as vice chairman of the Board of Management of Akzo in 1992 and was appointed to his present position in 1994. From 1984 to 1991 he served as chairman of the Federation of Netherlands Industry (VNO) and from 1991 to 1994 he was vice president of the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe (UNICE).

Prior to his position at UNICE, van Lede served as president and chief executive officer of Koninklijke Nederhorst Bouw, B.V., a Netherlands-based construction company, for three years. In 1982, Hollandse Beton Groep (HBG) acquired Nederhorst and van Lede was a member of the Board of Management for the combined company for two years. Van Lede began his career in 1969 as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company, working in offices in the Netherlands, U.S., Belgium, France and Brazil.

In addition to his board memberships at Sara Lee and Sara Lee/DE, van Lede serves as the chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Dutch Central Bank, a member of the Supervisory Boards of Heineken N.V., and Scania A.B., a member of the Board of Directors of INSEAD, and as a member of the board of several non-profit organizations.

Van Lede earned his law degree from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands and his master's of business administration degree from INSEAD Institute of Business Administration in Fontaineblue, France.

Sara Lee Corporation (www.saralee.com) is one of the world's leading branded consumer packaged goods companies, selling its products in nearly 200 countries. The company has three global businesses - Food and Beverage, Intimates and Underwear, and Household Products - through which it manufactures and markets products of exceptional quality and value under leading, well-known brand names such as Sara Lee, Earth Grains, Jimmy Dean, Douwe Egberts, Chock full o'Nuts, Hanes, Playtex, Bali, Dim, Kiwi, Ambi-Pur and Sanex.