Ian Read

Ian C. Read (born 1953) is a Scottish-born American business executive and a chartered accountant, serving as executive chairman of pharmaceutical company Pfizer. He was succeeded as CEO by Albert Bourla on 1 January 2019, becoming executive chairman. Early life Read was born in Forfar, Scotland, to a Scottish mother, but his parents returned to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) when he was six-weeks-old, and he grew up there. Read received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Imperial College London in 1974. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1978. Career Read has spent his entire career with Pfizer, starting in 1978 as an operational auditor. He worked in Latin America through 1995, holding positions ranging from CFO of Pfizer Mexico (Pfizer's largest subsidiary in Latin America) to country manager of Brazil. In 1996, he was appointed president of the Pfizer International Pharmaceuticals Group, Latin America/Canada. He assumed the position of executive vice president—Europe/Canada in May 2000, added the responsibilities for Africa/Middle East region as of January 2004 and responsibilities for Latin America in March 2006. He was named vice president of Pfizer in 2001 and promoted to president of worldwide pharmaceutical operations in 2006. He is a member of the Pfizer Leadership Team.