Belén Garijo
Belén Garijo (born 31 July 1960) is a Spanish business executive. Since May 2021, she has been the CEO and chair of the executive board of Merck Group.[1][2]
Early life
Garijo was born on 31 July 1960 in Almansa, Spain.[3] She graduated from the University of Alcalá in 1983 with a degree in medicine.[4]
Career
Garijo was a physician at Hospital Universitario La Paz.[5]
In 2003, Garijo became managing director of Aventis Spain, leading the merger with Sanofi. In 2011, she became chief operating officer of Merck Group, until being promoted to president in 2013 and elected a board member in 2015. In May 2021, she was named chief executive officer of Merck, following Stefan Oschmann.[6][7]
In her capacity as CEO, Garijo accompanied Chancellor Olaf Scholz on state visits to China in 2022[8] and 2024.[9]
Garijo has been included in the list of "World's 100 most powerful women" by Forbes in 2023 (68th rank in 2023).[10]
She was ranked 30th on Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women in 2023.[11]
Other activities
Garijo joined the boards of BBVA in 2012 and L'Oréal in 2014.[12]
Personal life
Garijo is married to a urology specialist, with whom she has two daughters.[12]
References
- ^ "Belen Garijo". weforum.org/.
- ^ "Belén Garijo | 2023 Most Powerful Women". Fortune. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ "Belén Garijo". Merck KGaA. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
- ^ Lopez, Maria (19 October 2023). "A qué se dedica Belén Garijo, la mujer más influyente de Castilla-La Mancha según Forbes" [What does Belén Garijo, the most influential woman in Castilla-La Mancha according to Forbes, do?]. El Español (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 July 2025.
- ^ "Belén Garijo, MD | CEO Roundtable on Cancer". www.ceoroundtableoncancer.org. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
- ^ "BELÉN GARIJO". emdgroup.com.
- ^ "Belén Garijo". Forbes. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
- ^ Maren Jensen and Sina Osterholt (3 November 2022), Wer Olaf Scholz begleitet: Fliegen ein Kanzler und zwölf Manager nach China Manager Magazin.
- ^ Victoria Waldersee, Christoph Steitz, Alexander Huebner and Ludwig Burger (4 April 2024), Top German CEOs join Scholz's China trip despite 'de-risking' push Reuters.
- ^ "The World's Most Powerful Women 2023". Forbes.
- ^ "Most Powerful Women". Fortune.
- ^ a b Pina, Marina (3 October 2020). "Belén Garijo, la española más poderosa salió de Almansa" [Belén Garijo, the most powerful Spanish woman, came from Almansa]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 July 2025.