How is The Net Worth of Albert Bourla a Stunning $36m?

What Is Albert Bourla’s Net Worth?

The Usual Intro

Albert Bourla is the Greek-American CEO of Pfizer, a major pharmaceutical corporation. Currently, he serves on the boards of several major organizations. After serving as president for several divisions within Pfizer, he became CEO in 2018. Due to Pfizer’s high status, he became a member of The Business Council and the Business Roundtable.

Bourla’s dedication to medicine has allowed him to enhance Pfizer’s research and development division. He led the vaccine department to develop the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. All of his contributions are recognized worldwide as he has won multiple awards. His estimated net worth is approximately $36 million.

Before the Spotlight

Born in Thessaloniki, Greece, on October 21, 1961, Albert Bourla is the son of two Sephardi Jews. His parents were among the only 2,000 survivors of The Holocaust in Greece. Bourla states that his mother was almost executed by a Nazi firing squad but was spared when his non-Jewish brother-in-law paid a ransom in exchange for her life. Meanwhile, his father was among those being taken to the Auschwitz concentration camps. Fortunately, he escaped and went into hiding.

In 1985, Bourla earned a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. After Bourla completed his education, he and his wife left Greece after he was offered a promotion by Pfizer. They spent several years moving around the world before settling down in New York.

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The Journey to Success

Albert Bourla signed on with Pfizer in 1993 as a veterinarian working mainly in animal medicine. Since then, he’s held multiple roles in the Animal Division, Zoetis, and several divisions. For a long while, Bourla served as the president of the Animal Health division of Europe, Africa, Middle East, and later the Pacific. He governed the merger of Pfizer with Wyeth’s Fort Dodge Animal Health business.

In 2010, he was appointed general manager of Pfizer’s Established Products Business Unit. After working with distribution, he served as Group President of Pfizer’s Global Vaccines, Oncology, and Consumer Healthcare business in 2014. Under his supervision, an anticoagulant, Eliquis, and a breast cancer drug, Ibrance, were launched with his guidance.

Quickly gaining recognition within Pfizer, Bourla took over as Pfizer’s Chief Operating Officer. One year later, he was promoted to CEO. Bourla played a huge role in organizing the development of the COVID-19 vaccine to be as fast as possible. Before the Food and Drug Administration’s mandate, he took a gamble and started producing the vaccine to make sure it was immediately available for shipping worldwide.

Following the retirement of Ian Read, Bourla assumed the position of executive chairman in 2020. He was on the Health Section Governing board of the world’s best biotechnology trade association, Biotechnology Innovation Organization. He serves as a board of directors for Pfizer, Catalyst, and other associations and nonprofit organizations. As of 2020, his career achievements led Institutional Investor to rank him as the top CEO in America’s pharmaceutical industry.

The Best Moments

• 1993 Hired by Pfizer
• 2010 Became president of Pfizer’s Established Products Business Unit
• 2014 Took over as president of Pfizer’s Global Vaccines, Oncology, and Consumer Healthcare sector
• 2016 Became president of Pfizer Innovative Health
• 2018 Promoted to Pfizer’s COO
• 2019 Took over as CEO when Ian Read retired
• 2020 Partnered with BioNTech to develop a COVID-19 vaccine
• 2021 Named CEO of the year by CNN Business  
• 2022 Genesis Prize Laureate for leadership during the pandemic

The Private Side

Albert Bourla and his wife, Myriam, emigrated to the United States in 2001, where they had two children. Unfortunately, not much information is available about his family members. 

Albert and his family currently live in Scarsdale, New York, and have a second home in Chalkidiki, Greece. The son of two Holocaust survivors, Albert strongly connects with his Greek and Jewish heritage. He has a summer home in Chalkidiki and supports the Aris Thessaloniki sports club. As a dedicated philanthropist, he organized medical aid for refugees and uninsured patients through vaccines and drugs worth more than $1 million.

Bourla set up the Pfizer Artificial Intelligence Center in his hometown in Greece. He shares a close friendship with the Greek Ambassador, Geoffrey R. Pyatt. He also prepared a meeting between the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and Pfizer’s leadership team in Greece.

Upon receiving the Genesis Prize for his efforts in distributing the COVID-19 vaccine, he donated his $1 million towards Holocaust education and Thessaloniki’s Holocaust Museum of Greece.

Bourla is no stranger to public speculation and scrutiny. Former CDC chief Tom Friden accused Bourla of war profiteering upon producing the vaccine without approval. Being the most prominent pharmaceutical CEO comes with being the center of attention. Bourla has been involved in politics to speak against politicians who oppose the decrease in prescription drug prices in the United States.

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Albert Bourla’s Related Videos

Albert Bourla: Pfizer CEO | Lex Fridman Podcast

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on “Face the Nation” | Full interview

On March 13, 2022, Albert Bourla appeared on Face the Nation to discuss the state of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rollout of Pfizer’s vaccine. You can view the video below. 

Famous Quotes of Albert Bourla

Here are some life lessons from Albert Bourla.

• “Reputation is something that you earn in drops, you can lose it in buckets. So I treasure what we have right now, the high reputation.”
  
• “Luck never comes to the unprepared.”
  
• “[E]verything we need to do needs to be significant science, not incremental help, not incremental improvements compared to the current standards of care, but the breakthrough improvements to the degree that would change the life of the people that are benefitting.”

The Social World

Here are the social media statistics of Albert Bourla and Pfizer.

• Twitter: 51K followers (personal)
• Twitter: 486K followers (Pfizer)
• Instagram: 118K followers (Pfizer)
• Facebook: 560K followers (Pfizer)

Lessons for Entrepreneurs

1. Implement your ideas. When Albert entered the pharmaceutical industry, he saw a need to make Pfizer more science-driven—this allowed the company to thrive in new directions.
   
2. Take note of the essentials. As Albert helped his company navigate the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, he learned the importance of focusing only on what you can change and setting aside the rest. 
   
3. Create harmony between groups. During his time as CEO of Pfizer, Albert has learned to balance stakeholders’ interests with the needs of society. He feels this has allowed him to help Pfizer grow for the better.

The Unusual Stuff

• Albert Bourla’s parents were two of only 2,000 Jews to survive the Holocaust in the town where he grew up. His mother escaped execution moments before her scheduled execution.
  
• Before settling down in New York, Albert lived in 8 cities in 5 countries since leaving Greece in 2001. 
  
• Although Albert’s net worth is $36 million, he’s entitled to a “golden parachute” in the event of Pfizer’s sale, giving him $113 million more. 
  
• When planning the pricing of the COVID-19 vaccine, Albert Bourla’s decision weighed heavily in favor of societal benefit over profit. He felt this could help reset the reputation of the pharmaceutical industry.
  
• During Bourla’s tenure in 2016, Pfizer’s Innovative Health division saw an 11% increase in revenue.

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Answering Frequent Questions

Here are the answers to a few common questions about Albert Bourla. 

Did Albert Bourla write a book?

Albert Bourla’s book, Moonshot: Inside Pfizer’s Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible came out on March 8, 2022. It details Pfizer’s journey during the COVID-19 vaccine development.

Was Albert Bourla arrested for fraud?

A Canadian news outlet falsely reported Albert Bourla’s arrest for fraud on November 5, 2021. 

Has Albert Bourla won any awards?

Albert Bourla won many awards throughout his career. These include the Genesis Award, the Appeal of Conscience Award, and The Atlantic Council’s Distinguished Business Leadership Award.

The Closing Remarks

Albert Bourla is the CEO of Pfizer, with an estimated net worth of $36 million. He continues to help lead his company toward medical breakthroughs regularly. Currently, he lives in Scarsdale, New York, with his wife and two children.

Featured image credit: Ververidis Vasilis / Shutterstock.com