Joaquin Duato, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Johnson &amp; Johnson, joined Economic Club Chairman David M. Rubenstein to explore Johnson &amp; Johnson’s strategy for driving the next era of healthcare innovation and what it takes to lead a global enterprise through an accelerating transformation in medicine.

Joaquin Duato, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Johnson & Johnson

Washington Welcomes

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** Washington Welcomes

## Transcript

You're listening to The Economic Club of Washington, D.C. Speaker Series, the premier forum for leaders. And now, Economic Club Chairman David Rubenstein. Preparing for this, I did some research and I was disappointed to learn that the Band-Aids I've been using all these years are no longer owned by Johnson & Johnson.

What happened to the Band-Aids? I mean, I thought Band-Aids were Johnson & Johnson. And how come you became CEO and you got rid of the Band-Aids? So, it's not only you. I think many retirees of the company are sending me mail regarding that same feeling. And many of them work in our consumer sector. And even today, when I tell people I'm the CEO of Johnson & Johnson, they tell me the baby shampoo company. All the time. All the time.

So, you became the CEO and then within a year or two of that, you spun out your entire consumer division. All the kind of products that I'm the one that I buy those things at the drugstore. And all those things you got rid of. Why did you do that? Yeah. We wanted to be more focused on medical innovation. And the consumer business has departed from medical innovation. We were more on areas, more connected with cosmetics or over-the-counter medication.

And it didn't fit in the overall umbrella on trying to bring medical innovation to treat tough, difficult conditions like oncology, cardiovascular or dementia. So, we wanted to be a more focused company dedicated to medical innovation. And we were deliberate about separating the consumer company. And it's good for companies like Johnson & Johnson to reinvent ourselves. All right. Since you did that, has your stock gone up or gone down?

It's gone up. You know, as a matter of fact, last year in 2025 was one of the best years for Johnson & Johnson history in terms of total shareholder return. We had 47% return in 2025. That's pretty good. Now, I can tell from your accent that you're not from Mississippi. No, no, no, no, no, I am not from Mississippi. You're from Alabama or Florida? Nearby, nearby, nearby. Missouri.

Now, you are a native of Spain. So, how did a native of Spain rise up to be the CEO of an American company that is the largest by revenue healthcare company in the entire world? It's not impossible to do that, but let's talk about your story. You're born in Spain. What city? I was born in Spain, in Valencia. I'm the son of an engineer and a nurse. So, I had the medical side in my family and also the entrepreneurial side.

And I grew up in a large family. In my family, my dad had nine brothers and sisters. So, I have like 40 cousins. And I was in the middle. So, I realized at the beginning that I needed to have a strong voice in order to be heard. Otherwise, nobody was paying attention to me in my family. Now, your parents are both alive, right? Yeah, my parents are both alive. Did they ask you about the band-aids too? Yeah. No, but you know, they asked me questions about Johnson...

Joaquin Duato, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Johnson & Johnson

Transcript

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Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
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Joaquin Duato, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Johnson & Johnson

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.