Kenneth Frazier to retire as CEO of Merck June 30

Merck & Co. announced on Thursday that Kenneth Frazier, its chairman and chief executive will retire on June 30.

The company’s current executive vice president of global services and chief financial officer, Robert Davis will succeed Frazier as CEO on July 1. Davis serves on the board of directors for Duke Energy and is also a board member for the international health non-profit Project Hope. His job was expanded to include “the company’s global support functions, which encompass corporate business development, investor relations, information technology, procurement, real estate operations, and corporate strategy.”

“It has been a distinct honor and privilege to serve this great company as its CEO over the past decade,” said Frazier on the company’s earnings call on Thursday. “As executive chairman, I look forward to collaborating with Rob and our board of directors to help Merck achieve even higher levels of success.”

Under the leadership of Frazier, Merck grew to become a leader in the emerging field of cancer immunotherapy. It also developed Keytruda, one of its top-sellers which treats lung and other kinds of cancers. The therapy generated more than $14 billion in global sales last year.

The success of the Keytruda therapy has boosted Merck’s market capitalization to a record-high $234 billion in 2020. In April 2018, the company released positive results from the study of Keytruda. Shares of Merck are more than 35%, compared with the S&P 500’s gain of nearly 48%.

Merck reported results for its fourth-quarter revenue and earnings on Thursday. Revenue was up 5% at $12.5 billion compared to the same period a year ago, but missed analysts’ expectations of $12.68 billion. The company also reported an adjusted EPS of $1.32 per share versus analysts’ expected $1.38.

Frazier has led the company for a decade. He is among the few Black CEOs leading S&P 500 companies. Frazier is also known for advocating for companies to hire more Black employees. His final years as CEO were marked by leading a strong opposition against Trump and a revolt among several CEOs to resign from Trump’s American Manufacturing Council after the former president made supportive comments of White supremacists and neo-Nazi groups at a Virginia protest in 2017.

“Rob has been instrumental in helping Merck take the right actions to adapt to the changing healthcare environment while remaining committed to investing in the scientific innovation that we expect will drive our future growth,” Frazier said.

Frazier’s retirement in June will leave only three Black CEOs at the Fortune 500 companies.