The FINANCIAL -- Johnson & Johnson today announced that its Board of Directors has named Alex Gorsky Chief Executive Officer of Johnson & Johnson effective April 26, 2012, the date of the Company’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Mr. Gorsky was also nominated for election to the Board of Directors at the Annual Meeting.

Mr. Gorsky, 51, currently Vice Chairman of the Company’s Executive Committee with responsibility for the Medical Devices & Diagnostics Group, Global Supply Chain, Health Care Compliance & Privacy and Government Affairs & Policy, succeeds Bill Weldon, who has served as Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson since 2002.  Mr. Weldon remains Chairman of the Board of Directors.

As CEO, Mr. Gorsky will assume full management responsibilities for Johnson & Johnson, including those currently reporting to him and to Mr. Weldon.   As Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee, Sheri S. McCoy will report to Mr. Gorsky when he assumes the role of CEO.  According to Johnson & Johnson, she will continue to lead the Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Groups, and maintain responsibility for Information Technology.

Mr. Gorsky will succeed Mr. Weldon, 63, as Chairman of the Company’s Executive Committee on April 26.  Mr. Weldon will relinquish his role on the Executive Committee at that time and work with Mr. Gorsky in the interim to ensure a seamless transition of leadership. 

Mr. Gorsky began his Johnson & Johnson career in 1988 as a sales representative with Janssen Pharmaceutica in the Pharmaceuticals business. Over the next 15 years, he advanced through positions of increasing responsibility in sales, marketing, and management.  In 2001, he was appointed President of Janssen, and in 2003, promoted to Company Group Chairman of Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceuticals business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. 

He left the Company in 2004 to join the Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, where he served as head of the company’s pharmaceuticals business in North America. Four years later, he returned to Johnson & Johnson as Company Group Chairman and Worldwide Franchise Chairman for Ethicon in the medical devices business.  In 2009, he was appointed Worldwide Chairman of the Surgical Care Group and to the Johnson & Johnson Executive Committee. He was appointed Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee in January 2011.

Mr. Gorsky holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, and spent six years in the U.S. Army.  In 1996, he earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

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