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Eli Lilly and Co. on Monday elevated a company insider to chief financial officer, succeeding Anat Ashkenazi, who left three months ago to join Google and Alphabet.
Lucas Montarce, who has been with Lilly since 2001 and most recently served as president for its Spain, Portugal and Greece operations, is now company’s CFO and executive vice president. He also was added to the executive committee.
“Developing leadership talent has always been a strength for Lilly, and Lucas has thrived in a wide variety of roles of increasing scope and impact,” Lilly CEO David Ricks said in a written remarks announcing Montarce’s promotion. “Having worked directly with Lucas for more than a decade, I am highly confident he has the drive, curiosity and integrity to excel as our next CFO.”
Through the years, Montarce also has served the Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical giant as corporate controller and chief financial officer of Lilly Research Laboratories, vice president of finance and chief financial officer of Lilly International and vice president of finance and global chief financial officer of Elanco Health.
“I am committed to building on our strong financial foundation and helping drive continued success as we expand our global footprint and deliver long-term value to our stakeholders,” Montarce said in a written statement. “I am honored to step into this role during such a significant time in our company’s history and look forward to working alongside the executive team and my talented Lilly finance colleagues.”
Montarce holds a bachelor’s degree in business accounting from Catholic University in Argentina and a master’s degree in business administration from the Center for Macroeconomic Studies of Argentina.
He succeeds Ashkenazi, who became chief financial officer of Google and Alphabet in late July.
Ashkenazi was Lilly’s third-highest paid executive last year, with a total compensation package of $7.6 million. Information about Montarce’s pay package was not immediately available.
The transition comes as Lilly continues a blockbuster financial run driven largely by sales of diabetes drug Mounjaro and weight-loss drug Zepbound.
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