Stefano Pessina

Stefano Pessina (born 4 June 1941 ) is an Italian-Monegasque billionaire businessman; he was the executive chairman of Walgreens Boots Alliance until its acquisition by Sycamore Partners in 2025.

Early life Pessina was born in Pescara and grew up between Milan, Como, and Naples. He graduated from the Polytechnic University of Milan in nuclear engineering before starting his career in academia and later joining market research firm ACNielsen in Milan. He wanted to be a nuclear physicist but was discouraged by the tumultuous political climate of the 1970s.

Career In 1977, Pessina took over his family's pharmaceutical wholesaler in Naples, founding Alleanza Farmaceutica. Following the merger with Ornella Barra's Di Farma, they founded Alleanza Salute (1986), which then became Alliance Santé (1988), a Franco-Italian pharmaceutical wholesale group. In 1997, it merged with UniChem to become Alliance UniChem. In July 2020, it was announced that Pessina would step down as CEO of WBA to take a less hands on role and replace Jim Skinner as executive chairman.

Controversies In a 31 January 2015 interview for The Sunday Telegraph, Pessina commented on the prospect of Britain's Labour Party winning the 2015 United Kingdom general election in May, saying "it would be a catastrophe" and describing the Labour's business policies as "not helpful", but declining to specify which policies he disliked. Labour Party figures criticized Pessina's comments, with Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna responding "The British people and British businesses will draw their own conclusions when those who don't live here, don't pay tax in this country and lead firms that reportedly avoid making a fair contribution in what they pay purport to know what is in Britain’s best interest," followed by Labour Party leader Ed Miliband saying "The chairman of Boots lives in Monaco and doesn't pay British taxes ... I don't think people should take kindly to being told how to vote by someone who avoids paying his taxes." Walgreens Boots Alliance responded that Pessina's comments "have been taken out of context ... Stefano Pessina was expressing his personal views only and is not campaigning against Ed Miliband or the Labour Party."

Personal life Pessina is married to Ornella Barra; she was chief operating officer, international of Walgreens Boots Alliance. He was previously married to Barbara. They had two children. According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Pessina's net worth was estimated at US$6.7 billion .

Awards and honours 2013, Grand Official of the Order of the Star of Italy. 2016, Special Achievements Award in Business by the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF). 2017, Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. 2018, World Retail Hall of Fame.