Joaquin Duato

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Johnson & Johnson

Last Reviewed: October 3, 2026

Executive Summary

Joaquin Duato has led Johnson & Johnson as chief executive since January 2022 and chairman since January 2023. J&J describes itself as the most comprehensive healthcare company in the world, with two businesses: Innovative Medicine, its pharmaceuticals arm, which tops $60 billion in annual revenue, and MedTech, its medical devices business. Under Duato it has focused on six areas: oncology, immunology, neuroscience, cardiovascular, surgery and vision. He joined in 1989 at J&J’s Janssen subsidiary in Spain and spent most of his career in pharmaceuticals, rising to worldwide chairman. He is a career J&J executive, with nearly four decades at the company, who has concentrated it on a short list of therapeutic areas.

Career Highlights

• Chief Executive Officer of Johnson & Johnson since January 2022; Chairman since January 2023.
• Executive Vice President, Worldwide Chairman, Pharmaceuticals, and later Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee.
• Joined J&J in 1989 with Janssen-Farmaceutica in Spain.
• Chairs the New Jersey CEO Council; member of the Business Roundtable and the Business Council.

Professional Journey

Duato earned an MBA at ESADE in Barcelona and a Master of International Management at the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona. He joined Johnson & Johnson in 1989 with Janssen-Farmaceutica in Spain, a J&J subsidiary, and over the following decades held executive positions across all of the company’s business sectors, geographies and functions.

His later career centered on pharmaceuticals. He served as company group chairman and then, from 2011, worldwide chairman of pharmaceuticals, and in 2016 joined the executive committee as executive vice president, worldwide chairman, pharmaceuticals. He was vice chairman of the executive committee from 2018 to 2021, according to PepsiCo’s September 2026 filing on his election to its board.

He became chief executive and a director in January 2022 and chairman of the board in January 2023. J&J says he has concentrated the company on six high-growth areas of significant unmet need: oncology, immunology, neuroscience, cardiovascular, surgery and vision. J&J operates two businesses, Innovative Medicine and MedTech, and its Innovative Medicine business alone exceeds $60 billion in annual revenue, according to the company. In 2026 the independent directors chose to keep the combined chairman and CEO role, partnered with a lead independent director, according to the proxy.

Outside the company he chairs the New Jersey CEO Council and belongs to the Business Council, the Business Roundtable and the Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which named him its 2025 Business Leader of the Year. In 2023 King Felipe VI of Spain awarded him the Order of Civil Merit. He was a director of Hess Corporation from 2019 to 2022, and J&J’s biography says PepsiCo has named him an independent director effective 1 December 2026.

Education

ESADE

MBA

Thunderbird School of Global Management

Master of International Management