Vasant Narasimhan is an Indian-American physician and the chief executive officer of Novartis. Also known as ‘Vas’, Vasant Narasimhan took over control at the Swiss MNC Novartis in 2018. Since then, he has led the $185 billion (Rs 15,29,000 crore) market cap company.
For the unversed, Novartis is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical corporations.
Vasant Narasimhan’s career early life
Born and brought up in the United States, Vasant Narasimhan’s parents were originally from Tamil Nadu. His father was a business executive and his mother was a nuclear engineer. Vasant Narasimhan is into yoga, meditation and pranayama. He learned it from his grandparents. IN 2003, Vasant Narasimhan got married to Srishti Gupta. The two met at Harvard while organising an Asian cultural fest. The couple has two children.
Vasant Narasimhan’s education
Vasant Narasimhan went to the University of Chicago to pursue a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences. After completing his MD from Harvard Medical School, he decided to do his master’s in public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Vasant Narasimhan’s career
Vasant Narasimhan started his career as a trained physician but soon decided to work in the pharmaceutical world. The CEO also worked in India on child poverty during his college days. After his studies, Vasant Narasimhan joined McKinsey & Co, Inc. in 2005, he decided to join Novartis and took up many leadership roles for over a decade.
Vasant Narasimhan’s salary
As per Novartis Annual Report 2022, Vas Narasimhan’s total realised compensation for the year was CHF 8,452,176 (over Rs 75.5 crore).
