Issa Asad, Florida-based businessman, CEO of Bond Media, and CEO of Quadrant Holdings and Q Link Wireless.
Issa Asad, Florida-based CEO of Q Link Wireless, LLC, and Quadrant Holdings, LLC, has put together a blog miniseries about who he believes are the current top CEOs of the world. This is top CEOs of the world number 8: J. Michael Pearson of Valeant Pharmaceuticals.
Who is J. Michael Pearson?
Mike, like he is known by many, is the current chair and chief executive of Valeant Pharmaceuticals. He has been the chief officer of Valeant Pharmaceuticals since 2008. Before working for the current company, Mr. Pearson was a member of the Board of Directors of McKinsey, where he joined in 1984. While at McKinsey, he was involved in the successful management of vital strategies, turnarounds and acquisitions, which boosted the growth of that company. He was also the head of the mid-Atlantic region and the world-wide pharmaceutical practice of the McKinsey. After McKinsey is when Mr. Pearson joined Valeant Pharmaceuticals. He has been recognized severally as a top CEO with a successful management around the world.
What is Valeant Pharmaceuticals?
Officially known as Valeant pharmaceuticals International, Inc., it is a global pharmaceutical company. The company has its headquarters in Laval, Quebec. It also has about 17,000 employees throughout the world. It is responsible for the development and the marketing of non-prescription and prescription pharmaceutical medication. The main aim of these medications is to boost the life of the individual. It has a special growth policy, which is to achieve, mature and market new products via tactical partnerships. Also, they aim to increase their pipeline, via the addition of new products and compounds through the company or product purchases. This company has been listed on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, with the symbol, VRX, implying that it is a stable company.
How has J. Michael Pearson Led Valeant Pharmaceuticals?
Michael Pearson started working at Valeant Pharmaceuticals in 2007, though he started out as a consultant. However, he became the CEO just a year later. He is known to preside over an amazing growth since he joined. His efforts have made the price of the company to shoot to over 1000%, which is a huge profit margin. When he took over as the chief officer, he implemented the policy that stated, ditch the precarious R&D and substitute it with acquisitions. As a result, Valeant has made over 1000 acquisitions under Mrs. Pearson.
When he became the CEO, he took control over the three businesses that were owned by the company. He focused on neurology, which he chose to de-emphasize and partnered with Glaxo. This allowed Glaxo to take the biggest part in that field and in turn, it made Valeant some profit. After that, Mr. Pearson decided to start acquiring specific companies that covered the dermatology. They began by purchasing Coria Labs, which was then worth $38 million, but is now worth $200 million.
In 2010, Valeant partnered with a neurological treatment, pharmaceuticals, Biovail Corp. It paid about $3.2 million to Biovail in stocks and cash. This was a means of merging the two companies and boosting the market strength of Valeant. The merging was a part of the acquisition that Mr. Pearson was aiming at when he became the chief officer of the company. There is also a connection of the company acquiring some or the majority of shares in Irvine, the company that was known for manufacturing Botox. He has increased the revenue of the company and as of now, it is worth billions of dollars, which was previously worth about $800 million when he took over.
