Alphabet has appointed Anat Ashkenazi as its new chief financial officer, effective immediately. Ashkenazi transitioned to Alphabet from Eli Lilly, where she previously held the CFO position. Her departure from Lilly was announced earlier in a separate release, indicating her resignation as chief financial officer to pursue a career opportunity beyond the pharmaceutical industry.
Ashkenazi will succeed Ruth Porat, who will transition to the role of investment chief. The executive change comes at a crucial time for Alphabet, which is investing heavily in artificial intelligence to compete with Microsoft and capitalise on the technology industry’s next growth driver.
Anat Ashkenazi, who joined Eli Lilly in 2001, has held various roles spanning finance, strategy, and operations. Before her current position, she served as Senior Vice President, Controller, and CFO of Lilly Research Laboratories.
Anat will be based in the Bay Area, reporting to Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.
Sundar Pichai welcomed Ashkenazi, saying, “We’re very pleased to have found such a strong CFO, with a track record of strategic focus on long-term investment to fuel innovation and growth.”
“The AI era is giving us an incredible opportunity to innovate at scale across our core products. I look forward to working with Anat as we invest responsibly to support our next wave of growth.”
“Google’s growth and evolution over the last 25 years has been an incredible story, helping billions of people and millions of businesses around the world. Today, the opportunity for impact is greater than ever, and I feel honoured to be joining Sundar and his leadership team as they invest for the company’s future at such an exciting moment,” said Anat Ashkenazi.
During her tenure at Lilly, Ashkenazi oversaw the launch of popular diabetes treatment Mounjaro and weight-loss drug Zepbound, which helped quadruple the company’s stock and turn it into the world’s most valuable healthcare firm.