Pharma Past Propels Julie Brown To GSK’s CFO Position
How Will New CFO Spend $7bn Haleon Dividend?
Executive Summary
GSK has poached its new chief financial officer from fashion brand Burberry, but Julie Brown’s experience at AstraZeneca and Roche will give her insights into how to lead GSK into its next phase.
GSK is going through another major transition, with the news that Julie Brown will be its next chief financial officer when Iain Mackay retires from the role in May next year, creating an all-female top-two at the company.
Brown is currently chief operating and financial officer at another UK-listed firm, the luxury fashion house Burberry, but also has extensive experience in pharma, and industry watchers will be keen to see what she does with the legacy left by the recent spin out of its consumer division, Haleon, in July.
Julie Brown PIC CREDIT: ROCHE
Brown will join GSK in April 2023 and will work with Mackay on the handover, taking on responsibility as CFO and as an executive director of GSK on 1 May.
The transition comes at pivotal moment for GSK, led by CEO Dame Emma Walmsley, after the Haleon spin out freed the new pharma and vaccines-focused firm from debt and opened up the potential for more investment in M&A and its pipeline.
Mackay said in July that GSK intended to “monetise in an orderly manner” the £7.1bn ($7.66bn) demerger dividend from Haleon, in which the company still retains a 13.5% stake. He restated then that the company’s capital allocation priorities were to strengthen the pipeline, invest in new product launches and deliver dividends to shareholders.
Brown will be one of the relatively few UK-based CFOs with lots of big pharma or life science industry experience; she joined Burberry from medtech company Smith & Nephew where she was the group CFO from 2013-2017. Before that, she was interim group CFO of AstraZeneca PLC having worked at the company for 25 years in finance, commercial and strategic roles.
Brown also currently serves as a non-executive director and audit chair of Roche Holding AG, but will now step down from that role.
Nevertheless, there may be grumbles about Brown’s lack of top-level experience among activist shareholders; Elliot Management and Bluebell Capital Partners have both previously questioned the credentials of former consumer division head Walmsley in her CEO role. (Also see "Another Activist Investor Joins Calls For GSK Leadership Review" - Scrip, 24 Sep, 2021.)
Women In Top-Two Roles For First Time
The appointment is also notable for making GSK the first big pharma company with both the CEO and CFO roles held by women.
Brown will not be the first woman to hold the top finance role in big pharma, however. UK rival AstraZeneca appointed Aradhana Sarin as its first woman CFO in June 2022. She had previously served as CFO at Alexion before the company was acquired by AstraZeneca last year.
Meanwhile another British woman, Caroline Litchfield, was appointed as CFO at one of the US’s biggest pharma companies, Merck & Co., Inc., in July last year, after having served at the firm since 1990.
Brown will receive an annual salary of £915,335, the same level as her predecessor. She will also be eligible for an annual bonus of the same amount for “on target performance” which could rise to a 300% payout for "exceptional performance”, once again in line with the current CFO.
Emma Walmsley
"I want to thank Iain for all he's done for GSK, and for his leadership and support to our people,” said Walmsley, who praised him for his role in reshaping GSK and improving its operating and financial performance.
She added: “I am absolutely delighted that Julie will be joining the leadership team as his successor. Julie is a highly experienced CFO with a tremendous understanding of the biopharma sector. We also share a strong passion for people development, diversity, inclusion and sustainability. I am looking forward to working together to deliver progress for patients, shareholders and our people."