Daniel Vasella
Dr. Daniel Vasella is a Medical Doctor and currently chairman and CEO of the pharmaceutical giant Novartis International AG. He has hold the position of chairman since 1999 and has been CEO of Novartis since 1996. That makes him the first Novartis CEO since the company was created through the merger of Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy. Before the merger he was CEO of Sandoz Pharma Ltd. [1]
He suffered a breakdown in his thirties and consulted psychotherapy after which he gave up his profession as MD and head of a hospital and became a travelling salesman for Sandoz in New Jersey. He rose in the company and finally played an important role in the merger. His considerably younger wife is the niece of a former Sandoz chairman which led to accusations of nepotism. [2]
"Last year, he was named "the most influential European business leader of the last 25 years" in a poll of Financial Times readers. [...] Dr Vasella's success has brought him considerable personal wealth. In 2003, his basic salary of $ 2.2m was part of a $14.4m pay package which made him one of the best paid bosses in Europe." [3]
Memberships
Dr. Vasella holds a number of positions:
- member of the Board of Directors of PepsiCo Inc. [4]
- former member of the Board of Directors of Credit Suisse Group (stepped down in 2003 after 6 years of membership)[5]
- member of the Supervisory Board of Siemens AG until 2003 [6]
- member of the Chairman's Council of DaimlerChrysler [7]
- chairman of the International Business Leaders Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai [8]
- member of the International Board of Governors of the Peres Center for Peace in Israel
- member of the Board of Dean's Advisors at the Harvard Business School
- president of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations [9]
External links
- http://www.ifpma.org/About_Us/about_vasella.aspx
- http://www.novartis.com/downloads_new/management_CV/CV_Daniel_Vasella_E.pdf]
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4167921.stm
- http://www.credit-suisse.com/upload/news-live/27364_1001.pdf
- http://www.logistics-assembly.siemens.com/bausteine.net/file/showfile.aspx?downdaid=5879
