Belén Garijo

Belén Garijo could have spent her life practicing medicine as a physician, her first calling. Instead the native Spaniard went into the pharmaceutical business, eventually heading up the integration of biotech Genzyme into new parent Sanofi-Aventis. In 2011, she joined the health care arm of Germany’s Merck KGaA—not to be confused with Merck & Co. in the U.S.—turning around the business and realigning its portfolio to focus on oncology and immunology. This year, her fifth as president and CEO of a company with 63,000 employees, saw Garijo signing a $3.9 billion deal to acquire Springworks Therapeutics, the health care’s arm’s largest planned acquisition in almost two decades. In her role running a group that also includes life science and electronics, she has pursued four key priorities: high-impact leadership culture, digital and data-driven innovation, efficient growth, and long-term value creation through sustainability.