2023 Year in Review

Ricks leads Lilly to new heights

David Ricks doesn't run the biggest pharmaceutical company in the world or the oldest or one located in a glamorous U.S. coastal city.

But as CEO of Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co., he had an even bigger distinction in 2023: Lilly became the most valuable publicly traded drug company in the world.

Ricks led Lilly to milestone after milestone, with a slew of product launches for diseases from obesity to inflammatory bowel disease. And when Lilly wasn't scoring wins in the laboratory, it was issuing a series of head-turning announcements, including the launch last spring of its largest capital expenditure ever on a single site: $3.7 billion for a new manufacturing complex in Boone County.

In the process, investors rushed to buy Lilly stock, creating a massive run-up in value. Shares hit a record high of $630 a share, up more than 70% for the year.

And even though Lilly is just the 12th largest drugmaker in the world, with 2022 sales of $28.5 billion, the company has eclipsed Johnson & Johnson, a company more than three times Lilly's size in revenue, in market value last spring. MORE >