Emma Walmsley

Emma Walmsley is the incoming Chief Executive Officer of HP Inc., the personal computing and printing company, and is set to take up the role on January 4, 2027. She is known for leading GSK as chief executive from April 2017 to December 2025, the first woman to run a major pharmaceutical company.

Career timeline

• 2027 (from January 4): Chief Executive Officer, HP Inc. (appointment announced November 4, 2026)
• 2019 to present: Independent director, Microsoft
• 2017 to 2025: Chief Executive Officer, GSK
• 2016: Non-executive director, Diageo
• 2015 to 2017: Chief Executive Officer, GSK Consumer Healthcare
• 2011 to 2015: President, Consumer Healthcare Worldwide, GSK
• 2010 to 2011: President, Consumer Healthcare Europe, GSK
• Before 2010: General management and marketing roles over 17 years, L'Oréal

Education

• MA in Classics and Modern Languages, University of Oxford (Christ Church)

Path to CEO of HP Inc.

Walmsley spent the first 17 years of her career at L'Oréal, where she held general management and marketing posts in Paris, London and New York. One of those posts was general manager of Garnier-Maybelline. In 2007 she relocated to Shanghai to run the consumer products business of L'Oréal China.

She moved to GSK in May 2010 as president of its European consumer healthcare unit. The following year she took charge of consumer healthcare worldwide, and in 2015 she became chief executive of GSK Consumer Healthcare. In April 2017 she succeeded Andrew Witty as chief executive of the whole group. During her tenure GSK separated its consumer healthcare business, which was spun out as Haleon in 2022, and narrowed its focus to specialty medicines and vaccines. HP's announcement credits her with renewing the research pipeline and strengthening the balance sheet in that period. Biopharma Dive reported that revenue from pharmaceuticals and vaccines rose from about 23 billion pounds in 2017 to 31 billion pounds in 2024, and that GSK brought the first RSV vaccine to market while she led the company. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2020 Birthday Honours.

GSK announced in September 2025 that Walmsley would step down. Luke Miels, the company's chief commercial officer, became chief executive on January 1, 2026, and she left the GSK board at the end of 2025. Alongside her executive roles she served on the board of Diageo in 2016 and joined the Microsoft board in 2019. On November 4, 2026, HP's board unanimously named her its next chief executive, with effect from January 4, 2027. Bruce Broussard, interim CEO since February 2026, is due to become chair of the board on the same date, succeeding Chip Bergh.

Quick facts

What is Emma Walmsley known for?

She led GSK as chief executive from 2017 to 2025, a period that included the 2022 spinout of Haleon, and she has been named the next chief executive of HP Inc.

Where did Emma Walmsley study?

She earned an MA in Classics and Modern Languages at Christ Church, University of Oxford.

When did Emma Walmsley become CEO of HP Inc.?

HP announced her appointment on November 4, 2026; she is scheduled to start as Chief Executive Officer on January 4, 2027, and has not yet taken office as of this update.

Related profiles

• Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO, Dell Technologies
• Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO, IBM
• Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft
• David Ricks, Chair and CEO, Eli Lilly

Sources

• HP Inc. (SEC Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1): HP Inc. Appoints Emma Walmsley as Chief Executive Officer
• Biopharma Dive: GSK CEO Emma Walmsley to retire, Luke Miels named successor
• MedCity News: Emma Walmsley, big pharma's first female CEO
• Wikipedia: Emma Walmsley

Last updated: 2026-11-12

About this page

This is an unofficial profile. Whoo compiled it from the public sources listed above. Emma Walmsley did not write or approve it. To correct or remove this page, write to [email protected].

Photo: Stekzar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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