Joaquin Duato

Joaquin Duato is the Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson, one of the world's largest and most diversified healthcare companies, with annual revenue exceeding $85 billion. Born in 1962 in Valencia, Spain, Duato earned an MBA from ESADE Business School and joined J&J in 1989. He spent over three decades at the company, leading pharmaceutical operations across Europe, Asia, and globally, before being named CEO in January 2022. Duato's defining act as CEO was completing the separation of J&J's consumer health business — including iconic brands like Tylenol, Band-Aid, Neutrogena, and Listerine — into Kenvue, which went public in May 2023 in the largest healthcare IPO ever. This spin-off, first announced under his predecessor Alex Gorsky, transformed J&J from a three-segment conglomerate into a focused pharmaceutical and medical technology company. The rationale was clear: pharma and medtech generate higher growth and margins than consumer health, and a focused J&J commands a higher valuation multiple. Post-separation J&J is built on two pillars. The pharmaceutical segment — led by blockbusters like Stelara (immunology), Darzalex (oncology), and Tremfya (dermatology) — generates the majority of revenue and profits. However, the loss of Stelara exclusivity starting in 2025 creates a patent cliff that Duato must navigate through pipeline innovation, with key drugs in oncology (Carvykti CAR-T therapy), pulmonary hypertension, and autoimmune diseases in late-stage development. The MedTech segment, J&J's second pillar, is being repositioned around higher-growth categories including surgical robotics (the Ottava system), electrophysiology, orthopedics, and vision. Duato's $13 billion acquisition of Shockwave Medical in 2024, adding intravascular lithotripsy technology for cardiovascular procedures, exemplifies the strategy of acquiring differentiated technology positions in large, growing medtech markets.