Hello Mr. CEO! (an introduction to the Global Pharma CEO)

"You have a quite a book there, Albert. They are certainly flying of the shelf" Vas Narmsimhan (Novartis) was overheard mentioning at one of the conclaves. Albert Bourla (Pfizer) who had just come out of his book 'Moonshot' promotion event, thanked Vas. Meanwhile, Emma Walmsley (GSK) who had overheard this conversation mentioned to Bob Ford (Abbott) and enquired whether he too is contemplating on writing a book, maybe on Abbott's M&A journey? Bob smiled...which caught the eye of Paul Hudson (Sanofi) who himself was chewing over a similar idea.

Whoa, hark there Mister!...the above is a just a scenario painted out of my imagine....:-) Imagine; what would a G-20 Summit of the Top 20 Global Pharma CEOs/CXOs, be like? Stephane Bancel (Moderna) rubbing shoulders with Albert Bourla (Pfizer), Alex Gorsky (Johnson & Johnson) and Pascal Soirot (Astra Zeneca). Giovanni Caforio (BMS) having a delightful laugh with Michael Goettler (Viatris). At the other end of the room, Hiroshi Matsumori (Teva) deep in conversation with Michel Vounatsos (Biogen) and Lars Fruergaard J?rgensen (Novo Nordisk).

Imagine being a 'fly-on-the-wall' in this G-20 Summit Room. So, much for that thought...but don't you think it would be a good idea to analyse the Top 20 CEOs of the Global Pharma? A dissection of the Pharma CEO...not so much for what they have achieved but to examine what the demo graphical DNA of this Royalty of the Pharma World showcases.

This article may not drive any key take away, and as such this article should be looked at as a study of the DNA (just a wee bit) of our Global CEOs. Read on..

The only picture in recent times when the Big Pharma CEOs were together (Feb 2019). Sitting from Left to Right are Richard Gonzalez?(AbbVie), Pascal Soriot (Astra Zeneca), Giovanni Caforio (BMS), Jennifer Taubert (Johnson & Johnson), Kenneth Frazier (Merck) and Albert Bourla (Pfizer). Unfortunately, this was on the occasion of Senate hearing (and grilling) of the CEOs on the soaring drug prices.

Here is the List of The Top Global CEOs and CXOs from our Industry, analysed for this article purpose.

The 'Top 20' list is a notional list drawn bringing the focus on the most active pharma CEOs/CXOs and whose information is easily available. Most of the information, has been doubly checked by me from various sources and pardon me in case there is a slip-up.

Scouting the CEOs profiles and studying them, threw up some interesting facts.

Insight #1: Top Three Leaders in Social Media are Vas Narsimhan (Novartis), Albert Bourla (Pfizer) and Paul Hudson (Sanofi).

Some of CEOs are investing quite a lot of time and energy on propagating their LinkedIn voice. While, we know that they may have a dedicated team working on this, yet it is pertinent to note that each one of them has invested a lot of energy to develop their own distinct voice. Vas Narsimhan is leading the pack and is miles ahead. Often, we see him using some of the latest tools available on the platform.

Conversely, there seem to be some CEOs who certainly do not believe in socialising on LinkedIn or maybe they just do not have the time.

Insight #2: 11 out of the 20 CEOs are MBAs or Doctors.

With 6 CEOs being MBA, 5 being Doctors - only one CEO (Reshma Kewalramani - Vertex) is a Doctor-MBA. Arts stream of education is represented by 3 CEOs.

Harvard seems to be the institution of choice with 4 out of the 11 MBAs from the prestigious institution.

Insight #3: Emerging markets are showing up in the Global CEOs origins. 2 CEOs amongst the 20 have an Indian origin!

Insight #4: The Gender balance has still a long way to go in the representation of women at the top. With only 3 of the 20, being women, this is an area which would see some correction in the coming years.

Emma Walmsley, CEO of GSK has received considerable press coverage over her style of functioning. According to the Financial Times, Emma Walmsley has confessed to disliking "pomposity" of business jargon and the ubiquitous PowerPoint presentations! She focuses on talent development, but is also considered to be ruthless with under performers. An ally quotes, "If you are not on your game, you are gone."

Reshma Kewalramani, the CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals was born in Mumbai. She is possibly the only CEO who is both a Doctor and MBA. Dr Reshma is an Physician, Researcher and a Nephrologist.

Belen Garijo, is the CEO of Merck making her the first woman to run a company listed on Germany's DAX 30 Index. Belen is the only CEO who is a physician and an MD in Clinical Pharmacology. She is also the No. 5 with LinkedIn followers and the No.1 Woman CEO on LinkedIn.

Full View of the CEO Details: In summary, this eclectic group of individuals is quite a study and knowing their origins, their education and their skill sets makes an interesting read. A further in-depth research (e.g. the journey and the climb up the ladder) may provide more insights into how they work and how a Pharma CEO thinks.

Now that warrants another exhaustive research, which I will keep it for later :-)

Part I

Part II

Dislcaimer: the research and tabulated results are from my own study. All images are from the public domain. The hypothetical story depicted at the start, is just that, a fantastical imagination of mine! The list of CEO/CXOs is certainly not the most decisive one to call them 'Top 20', but has been derived on basis of what detailed information was available in the public domain and therefore you may find two companies doubly represented.