The world’s most valuable drugmaker has a new finance chief.
Anat AshkenaziLucas Montarce stepped into the chief financial officer role at Eli Lilly, effective immediately Monday. He replaces Anat Ashkenazi, who left earlier this summer to take on the CFO post at one of the world’s other biggest companies, Google’s parent Alphabet.
Montarce is a 23-year veteran who has steered finance at multiple divisions in the company, including Lilly Research Laboratories, Lilly International and Elanco Health (the animal health unit that separated from the drugmaker in 2019). It’s a path that follows that of his predecessor, Ashkenazi, who likewise served as CFO of various Lilly units before being made CFO in 2021 after Josh Smiley was ousted from the role for an “inappropriate personal relationship” with an employee.
CEO David Ricks said Lilly conducted a “competitive search” across various sectors, including healthcare, tech and “general industries.” Lilly is now the world’s most valuable drug company, with a market capitalization of more than $800 billion.
“Developing leadership talent has always been a strength for Lilly, and Lucas has thrived in a wide variety of roles of increasing scope and impact,” Ricks said in a press release. “Having worked directly with Lucas for more than a decade, I am highly confident he has the drive, curiosity and integrity to excel as our next CFO.”
The 47-year-old will receive an annual base salary of $1 million and could get an annualized bonus of the same amount, according to a Monday morning SEC filing.
Lilly controller Gordon Brooks, who’s been with the company for nearly three decades, held the interim CFO post. The drugmaker is also losing its chief ethics and compliance officer, Alonzo Weems, who is retiring at the end of this year.