Alex Gorsky

Chairman & CEO
Johnson & Johnson

Alex Gorsky is chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson & Johnson. Alex is the seventh person to serve as chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson since it became a publicly traded company in 1944.

Gorsky began his Johnson & Johnson career as a sales representative with Janssen Pharmaceutica in 1988. Over the next 15 years, he advanced through positions of increasing responsibility in sales, marketing and management. In 2001, Gorsky was appointed president of Janssen, and in 2003, he was named company group chairman of Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceuticals business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Gorsky left Johnson & Johnson in 2004 to join the Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, where he served as head of the company’s pharmaceuticals business in North America. He returned to Johnson & Johnson in 2008 as company group chairman for Ethicon, Inc. In September 2009, he was appointed worldwide chairman of the medical devices segment. In January of 2011, Gorsky was named vice chairman of Johnson & Johnson’s executive committee. He became chief executive officer on April 26, 2012 and chairman of the board on December 28, 2013.

A longtime advocate of diversity and inclusion, Gorsky has been named one of the “100 Most Inspiring Leaders” by Pharma Voice. He is the executive sponsor of two Johnson & Johnson employee resource groups, the Women’s Leadership Initiative and the Veteran’s Leadership Council. Gorsky is also a member of the Business Council and the Business Roundtable.

Gorsky is a member of the board of directors of IBM, the Congressional Medal of Honor board of directors and the board of directors of the National Academy Foundation. He was recently given the Joseph Wharton Leadership Award and the CADCA Humanitarian of the Year Award, as well as an honorary doctorate from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

Gorsky holds a bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, and spent six years in the U.S. Army, finishing his military career with the rank of captain. Gorsky earned a Master of Business Administration degree from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1996.