Stefano Pessina

Biography

Stefano Pessina (born June 4, 1941)[3][4] is an Italian-born Monegasque billionaire businessman and the vice chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), and the single largest shareholder of Walgreens Boots Alliance In 1977, he took over his family's pharmaceutical wholesaler in Naples and turned it into Alliance Santé, a Franco-Italian pharmaceutical wholesale group.[2][5][9] In 1997, it merged with Alliance UniChem, and he joined its board of directors.[5][9][7] From 2001 to 2004, he served as its CEO.[9] He served as deputy chairman, and later as chairman.[9] Pessina was chairman of Alliance Boots from 2007 to 2014 and a director of Walgreens until August 2014.[10] He is a director of Walgreens Boots Alliance.[9][11] He is a director of the Consumer Goods Forum. Pessina, though separated for 24 years, is still married to his wife, Barbara, cousin of the renowned architect Richard Rogers. They met at university and married shortly thereafter. She still resides in Milan, in the palatial apartment where they brought up their two children. He has also been the romantic partner of Ornella Barra for over 30 years. They met in 1985, as she was just beginning her career. She is 13 years his junior and shares his Monaco residence and work schedule, acting as co-chief operating officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance.[13] As of February 2015, he is worth US$11.4 billion, owning around 15% of Walgreens Boots Alliance.[2] He has lived in Monte Carlo, Monaco, for many years.[4] His daughter, Elena, 41, lived in Paris and worked in public relations, before marrying an Italian lawyer in 2007. His son Jacopo Pessina, 36, serves as Director M&A and Healthcare Innovation International at Walgreens Boots Alliance. Mr. Pessina is also a Co-founder and Developer of the Healthcare Innovation Platform and previously worked in global wealth management and investment banking at Merrill Lynch. He serves as a Member of Advisory Board at Metro Bank PLC.

Research Interest

Business administration