Reshma Kewalramani’s remarkable journey from Mumbai to becoming the CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals highlights her influence as one of the most powerful and wealthy women of Indian origin in global business.
Reshma Kewalramani, an Indian-origin CEO, stands as a testament to global leadership in biotechnology. Having moved to the United States at the age of 11, she now leads Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a distinguished Fortune 500 biotech company. Kewalramani’s breakthrough career trajectory is marked by her notable rise in the business world, fortified by her academic accomplishments and professional competencies.
Kewalramani, MD, FASN, serves as both the Chief Executive Officer and President of Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Entering the company in 2017, she rapidly ascended the corporate ladder, initially serving as Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Global Medicines Development before assuming the CEO role in 2020. Her tenure has been transformative, securing approvals for five groundbreaking drugs aimed at treating the root causes of cystic fibrosis (CF), thereby significantly improving the quality of life for numerous patients.
Kewalramani’s educational journey is rooted in medicine, having obtained her medical degree with honors from the seven-year program at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. She further honed her skills, completing both her internship and residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, followed by a fellowship in nephrology as part of the joint program between Mass General and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Her leadership capabilities were enhanced by completing the General Management Program at Harvard Business School, adding significant value to her diverse skill set.
A recognized Fellow of the American Society of Nephrology, Kewalramani’s contributions to healthcare and leadership have garnered significant recognition. Her inclusion on both the TIME 100 Most Influential People in the World and TIME 100 Health lists underscores her lasting impact and visionary stature in the biotech sector.
Within this elite corporate sphere, she shares global influence with notable leaders such as Jensen Huang, CEO and co-founder of Nvidia, who topped Fortune’s 2025 list of the world’s 100 most powerful businesspeople. Huang, along with other technology titans like Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, and Huawei’s Ren Zhengfei, epitomizes fierce competition at the pinnacle of corporate leadership, all striving for advancement and innovation.
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