Who is Anat Ashkenazi, the Eli Lilly veteran becoming Google's next CFO?

By Emily Bary

Lilly shares have jumped 300% in the time Ashkenazi worked as the pharmaceutical company's CFO

As Alphabet Inc. looks to fill a vacancy in its senior ranks, it's turning to a longtime Eli Lilly and Co. veteran who helped build the healthcare company into a juggernaut.

Anat Ashkenazi, Lilly's (LLY) chief financial officer, will be heading over to Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) and Google to take on the same role there. She spent just over three years as Lilly's CFO as part of a 23-year career with the pharmaceutical giant.

Alphabet Chief Executive Sundar Pichai called out Ashkenazi's "track record of strategic focus on long-term investment to fuel innovation and growth" in a release announcing her appointment.

Ashkenazi will begin in her Alphabet role starting July 31. She'll succeed Ruth Porat, who was previously disclosed to be moving into the roles of president and chief investment officer. Porat will stay in the CFO role through Alphabet's second-quarter earnings call.

During Ashkenazi's tenure as Lilly's CFO, the company's shares have catapulted about 300% to amass a market value of $791 billion.

Alphabet mentions that Ashkenazi has had a "diverse career spanning financial, strategy and operations roles." Before becoming CFO of all of Lilly, she worked as the CFO of Lilly Research Laboratories. In that capacity, she "oversaw the CFOs of the company's commercial businesses, as well as those for research and development, manufacturing and quality, and [general and administrative] functions," Lilly said at the time of her CFO appointment there.

She also brings experience serving in the CFO capacity for various global divisions such as oncology and diabetes.

Before arriving at Lilly, Ashkenazi worked at Ma'alot Standard & Poor's and at Bank Hapoalim in Israel, according to Lilly materials.

She graduated from Hebrew University with a bachelor's degree in economics and business administration. Ashkenazi also holds an M.B.A. from Tel Aviv University.

Alphabet shares are up fractionally, while Eli Lilly shares are little changed in premarket action.

-Emily Bary

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06-05-24 0828ET

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