Last updated: November 4, 2026
Dame Emma Walmsley is HP Inc.’s next CEO. HP announced on Nov. 4, 2026, that its board had unanimously appointed her, effective Jan. 4, 2027. She ran the British drugmaker GSK from April 2017 through December 2025, the first woman to run a major pharmaceutical company. Before that she spent 17 years at L’Oréal. She has no background in tech hardware, but she has sat on Microsoft’s board for seven years. At HP she succeeds interim CEO Bruce Broussard, who has run the company since Enrique Lores left in February 2026 to become CEO of PayPal. She takes over a PC maker caught in a memory-chip shortage that has pushed up prices and set off a steep industry downturn, Reuters reported. HP shares closed up almost 6% on the news.
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Quick facts
Name: Emma Natasha Walmsley
Born: June 1969, Barrow-in-Furness, England (age 57)
New job: CEO, HP Inc. (effective Jan. 4, 2027)
Previous job: CEO of GSK (April 2017 to December 2025)
Earlier career: 17 years at L’Oréal; joined GSK in 2010 to run consumer healthcare
Education: MA in Classics and Modern Languages, Christ Church, University of Oxford
Board seats: Microsoft (since 2019); formerly Diageo (2016)
Honors: Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2020)
Family: Daughter of Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Walmsley; married to David Owen since 1995; four children
Known for: Spinning off GSK’s consumer business as Haleon
Who is Emma Walmsley?
Walmsley was born in 1969 in Barrow-in-Furness in northwest England. Her father, Robert Walmsley, became a vice-admiral in the Royal Navy. She boarded at St Swithun’s School in Winchester and studied classics and modern languages at Christ Church, Oxford.
She didn’t start in medicine. She spent 17 years at L’Oréal in general management and marketing jobs in Paris, London and New York, including running Garnier-Maybelline. In 2007 she moved to Shanghai to run L’Oréal’s consumer products business in China, including L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline, Garnier and a Chinese skincare brand, Mininurse. When she left for GSK in 2010, Advertising Age quoted L’Oréal insiders who were surprised, because she had been tipped for one of the company’s top global jobs.
At GSK she ran consumer healthcare, first in Europe and then worldwide, and in 2015 became CEO of the consumer joint venture GSK formed with Novartis. That business, with brands like Panadol, Voltaren and Horlicks, made up nearly a quarter of GSK’s revenue. In April 2017 she became CEO of the whole company, a non-scientist at the top of a drug company.
Within her first year she replaced 50 of GSK’s top managers. She narrowed the company’s research bets and pushed it toward specialty medicines and vaccines. In 2021 the activist investors Elliott and Bluebell went after her, citing years of underperformance and her lack of scientific background. She held on. In January 2022 GSK rejected three offers from Unilever for the consumer business, the last worth £50 billion, saying they undervalued it. Six months later GSK spun the business off as Haleon, Europe’s biggest listing in more than a decade.
In September 2025 GSK said she would step down at the end of the year, before her contract ran out, and that Luke Miels, an executive she had hired from AstraZeneca, would replace her. She said she had no plans to retire. Thirteen months later, HP hired her.
Career timeline
June 1969: Born in Barrow-in-Furness, England.
Education: Christ Church, Oxford (MA, Classics and Modern Languages).
Until 2010: 17 years at L’Oréal in Paris, London and New York, including general manager of Garnier-Maybelline.
2007: Moves to Shanghai to run L’Oréal’s consumer products business in China.
May 2010: Joins GlaxoSmithKline as president of Consumer Healthcare Europe.
October 2011: Becomes president of Consumer Healthcare Worldwide and joins GSK’s executive team.
March 2015: Becomes CEO of GSK Consumer Healthcare, the new joint venture with Novartis.
Jan.–Sept. 2016: Non-executive director of Diageo.
April 2017: Becomes CEO of GSK.
September 2019: Joins Microsoft’s board.
2020: Made a Dame for services to the pharmaceutical industry and business.
January 2022: GSK rejects a £50 billion Unilever offer for its consumer business.
July 18, 2022: GSK spins off Haleon in London.
Sept. 29, 2025: GSK names Luke Miels as her successor.
Dec. 31, 2025: Steps down as CEO and from GSK’s board.
Nov. 4, 2026: Named CEO of HP Inc., effective Jan. 4, 2027.
Notable deals & projects
The Haleon spin-off: Her biggest move. Haleon, home to Sensodyne, Panadol and Advil, started trading on July 18, 2022, at a market value of about £30.5 billion, Reuters reported. That was well short of the £50 billion Unilever had offered months earlier, a gap critics pointed to.
Saying no to Unilever: GSK’s board turned down all three Unilever proposals, the last in December 2021 for £41.7 billion in cash and £8.3 billion in Unilever stock.
Rebuilding GSK’s leadership: In January 2018 she replaced 50 of GSK’s top managers and hired Walmart’s Karenann Terrell as chief digital and technology officer.
Refocusing research: In 2017 she said GSK would put 80% of its drug research spending into no more than four disease areas. When she left, GSK said it had 15 major pipeline opportunities set to launch from 2025 to 2031 and expected sales of more than £40 billion by 2031.
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What she’s known for
Breaking a pharma ceiling: She was the first woman to run a major pharmaceutical company. Fortune ranked her No. 1 on its Most Powerful International Women list in 2018.
An outsider’s path: She came up through marketing and consumer brands, not science, and she’s doing it again at HP with no hardware background.
Her management style: In 2016 the Financial Times described her as a “strong and dynamic” leader, quoting colleagues who said she pays close attention to developing talent but is “ruthless with underperformers.”
In the news
Nov. 4, 2026: HP named Walmsley CEO effective Jan. 4, 2027. Interim CEO Bruce Broussard becomes chair, replacing Chip Bergh, who has been chair since 2017.
Nov. 4, 2026: Reuters reported she takes over as a memory-chip squeeze, driven by AI data center buildouts, hits HP and rivals Dell, Apple and Lenovo. HP’s PC shipments fell 16% last quarter even as the unit’s revenue rose 18% on pricier products, including AI PCs. HP has said it expects industry PC volumes to fall by a mid-single-digit percentage next year.
Nov. 4, 2026: HP’s search took about nine months, CRN reported. Lores had started at HP as an engineering intern.
Quotes
“HP is an iconic company with a defining role in shaping the future of work on a global scale. I’m excited to join the team and, together, move forward with clarity and conviction.” — HP announcement, Nov. 4, 2026
“Emma is a proven CEO with a track record of leading organizations at scale and guiding them through significant change.” — Bruce Broussard, HP interim CEO, Nov. 4, 2026
“Walmsley has no background in hardware, but she has experience steering a large company through a major restructuring, including the separation of Haleon from GSK, and that is closer to what HP needs.” — Vitor Madeira, Capital.com, via Reuters, Nov. 4, 2026
“As CEO, you hope to leave the company you love stronger than you found it and prepare for seamless succession. I’m proud to have done both.” — on leaving GSK, Sept. 29, 2025
Controversies / criticism
Activist pressure: In 2021 Elliott and Bluebell targeted GSK and Walmsley, pointing to years of underperformance against peers, GSK missing out on the first wave of COVID-19 vaccines and concerns about management’s scientific expertise, Reuters reported.
The share price: GSK’s shares fell about 11% during her tenure up to the day her exit was announced, CNBC reported. “Although Emma Walmsley’s record of delivering on financial guidance has been strong, the company’s growth rates remain stuck in single digit territory,” a Hargreaves Lansdown analyst said then.
Pay: Her 2023 pay rose 51% to about £12.7 million, making her the second-highest-paid CEO at a European drugmaker.
Net worth & money
There is no reliable public estimate of Walmsley’s net worth. Her last widely reported annual pay at GSK was about £12.7 million for 2023. HP has not yet disclosed her pay package in the sources reviewed here.
FAQ
Who is Emma Walmsley?
She is HP Inc.’s incoming CEO and the former CEO of GSK, which she ran from 2017 to 2025.
When does Emma Walmsley start at HP?
Jan. 4, 2027.
Who is HP’s CEO now?
Bruce Broussard, the former Humana CEO, has been interim CEO since February 2026. He becomes HP’s chair when Walmsley starts.
What happened to Enrique Lores?
He stepped down as HP’s CEO in February 2026 to become CEO of PayPal.
How old is Emma Walmsley?
She was born in June 1969, so she is 57.
Why did Emma Walmsley leave GSK?
GSK announced in September 2025 that she would step down at the end of the year, before her contract ended. She said 2026 was “the right moment for new leadership.” Luke Miels replaced her on Jan. 1, 2026.
Further reading
HP Inc. Appoints Emma Walmsley as Chief Executive Officer — HP
HP taps Emma Walmsley as CEO — Reuters, via the New York Post
GSK’s Emma Walmsley to step down as chief executive after eight years — The Guardian
GSK’s consumer arm Haleon debuts — Reuters
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