Shareholders have high hopes for Bayer’s new boss
Bill Anderson has two qualifications for the job. He knows pharma. And he is American
After Bill Anderson, Bayer’s new boss, arrives on April 1st at the firm’s headquarters in Leverkusen, Werner Baumann, the German drug-and-chemicals giant’s outgoing chief executive, will be on standby for two months to ensure a smooth transition. Given Mr Anderson’s lack of experience in crop sciences, Bayer’s biggest business, you might ask what the board was thinking handing him the reins. The answer is that he has two qualifications that make up for his shortcoming. He used to run the pharmaceuticals business at Roche, a Swiss drug behemoth. And he is American. That makes him just the man for a company that is betting big on its pharma business across the Atlantic.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “An American in Leverkusen”
Business March 18th 2023
From the March 18th 2023 edition
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