An Italian is the new CEO of the American company Walgreens, the largest pharmacy chain in the world. Stephen Pessina, 73 years old, managing director of Alliance Boots, took over from Greg Wasson at the helm of Walgreen and became the majority shareholder of the American group during the process that is leading to the merger of the two giants of the pharmacy chains.
The Italian manager, who according to Forbes in 2014 is the third richest man in Italy with estimated assets of $10,9 billion, he has already outlined the strategies to ensure further growth for Walgreen: to focus on exposure to the emerging markets of India, China and South America with the idea of expanding the range of medicines and prescriptions in areas of the world with more and more money to spend on health-care.
After the news broke, the stock of the US pharmacy chain jumped 7,13% to close at $73,01.
