Kare Schultz

Kåre Schultz
Born	Kåre Schultz
Nationality	Danish
Occupation	Business executive
Employer	Hims & Hers Health (Board of Directors)
Known for	CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (2017–2023)

Kåre Schultz is a Danish pharmaceutical executive who served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, the world's largest generic drug manufacturer, from November 2017 until late 2023. Brought in at a time when Teva was contending with crushing debt, declining revenue, and the fallout of a series of costly acquisitions, Schultz was tasked with stabilizing one of the most troubled major pharmaceutical companies in the world. Over the course of his roughly five-year tenure, he implemented a sweeping restructuring program that included significant cost reductions and workforce layoffs, measures credited with pulling the company back from the brink of financial collapse. Prior to Teva, Schultz held senior leadership roles at Lundbeck and other pharmaceutical companies in Europe. Following his departure from Teva, he joined the board of directors of Hims & Hers Health, Inc., a health and wellness platform, in 2024. His name has also surfaced in industry discussions about leadership succession at major pharmaceutical firms, including Novo Nordisk.

Career

Early Career and Lundbeck

Before joining Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Kåre Schultz built a lengthy career in the European pharmaceutical industry. He held senior executive positions at several companies, most notably serving as president and CEO of H. Lundbeck A/S, a Danish pharmaceutical company specializing in treatments for brain diseases. His tenure at Lundbeck and other firms established his reputation as an experienced operator within the global pharmaceutical sector. His background in both branded and specialty pharmaceuticals positioned him as a candidate with the breadth of experience considered necessary to lead a complex multinational organization.

Appointment as Teva CEO

On October 30, 2017, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries announced that Kåre Schultz would join the company as President and Chief Executive Officer effective November 1, 2017. At the time of his appointment, Teva was in a state of acute financial and operational distress. The company had accumulated tens of billions of dollars in debt, largely as a result of its 2016 acquisition of Allergan's generic drug business (Actavis Generics) for approximately $40.5 billion—a deal widely considered to have been poorly timed given a deteriorating pricing environment for generic pharmaceuticals. Revenue was declining, the company's stock price had fallen precipitously, and Teva's previous leadership had departed amid growing investor discontent.

Schultz was selected by Teva's board of directors to execute what was expected to be one of the most significant corporate turnarounds in the pharmaceutical industry. His appointment was seen as a signal that the company intended to pursue aggressive cost-cutting measures and a fundamental restructuring of its operations.

Tenure at Teva: Restructuring and Stabilization

Upon taking office, Schultz moved quickly to implement a comprehensive restructuring plan designed to reduce Teva's operating costs and stabilize its balance sheet. The restructuring program, announced in December 2017, included the elimination of thousands of jobs globally, the closure and consolidation of manufacturing plants, and significant reductions in spending across the organization. The measures were among the most far-reaching in the pharmaceutical industry at the time and affected employees across multiple countries.

Over the course of his tenure, Schultz oversaw substantial reductions in Teva's workforce. The company's headcount was cut by approximately 25% under his leadership. Simultaneously, he pursued a strategy of paying down Teva's debt, which had peaked at over $35 billion. Through a combination of asset sales, cost reductions, and disciplined cash flow management, Teva made significant progress in reducing its debt burden during Schultz's five years at the helm.

On the commercial side, Schultz worked to stabilize Teva's generics business while also investing in the company's specialty pharmaceutical portfolio. One of the notable developments during his tenure was the launch and commercialization of Ajovy (fremanezumab), a treatment for migraine prevention, and Austedo (deutetrabenazine), a medication for tardive dyskinesia and Huntington's disease chorea. These specialty products were positioned as key growth drivers intended to offset the ongoing erosion in the generics segment.

Despite these efforts, Schultz's tenure was also marked by persistent challenges. The generic pharmaceutical market continued to face pricing pressure, and Teva remained embroiled in significant legal proceedings, including opioid-related litigation that threatened to impose billions of dollars in additional liabilities. Additionally, the company's stock price, while stabilizing from its lowest points, did not recover to levels seen before the Actavis acquisition.

An assessment published by CTech in November 2022 summarized Schultz's legacy at Teva in blunt terms: he "kept Teva away from the abyss, but couldn't find a runway to growth." The analysis credited Schultz with preventing the company from falling into insolvency and restoring a degree of operational discipline, but noted that he had been unable to identify or execute a transformative growth strategy that would return Teva to its former prominence. Over the course of his tenure, Schultz accumulated a total salary package of more than $50 million, according to the same report.

Departure from Teva

In November 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that Teva was looking for a new chief executive officer after Schultz confirmed he would step down when his contract expired the following year. Schultz had indicated his intention not to renew his contract, with Fierce Pharma reporting that he was preparing for a transition that included personal considerations, such as plans to become a grandfather.

The search for a successor concluded on November 21, 2022, when Teva announced the appointment of Richard Francis, a former executive at Novartis and Biogen, to succeed Schultz as CEO. Schultz departed Teva approximately one year before the end of his originally anticipated tenure, leaving the company in a more stable but still challenging position.

Post-Teva Career

Following his departure from Teva, Schultz transitioned into board-level roles. On July 22, 2024, Hims & Hers Health, Inc., a health and wellness platform focused on direct-to-consumer medical treatments, announced the appointment of Schultz to its board of directors. The company described Schultz as a "pharmaceutical industry chief" and highlighted his extensive experience leading large-scale pharmaceutical operations as an asset to the board.

In May 2025, Schultz's name emerged in media speculation about potential candidates to lead Novo Nordisk following the surprise announcement that CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen would be replaced. A Bloomberg report analyzing the succession race noted Schultz among the figures discussed as possible contenders or relevant industry leaders, underscoring his continued prominence within the Danish and global pharmaceutical executive community.

Personal Life

Little has been publicly documented about Schultz's personal life beyond select details disclosed in connection with his professional activities. In 2022, Fierce Pharma reported that Schultz was preparing for the arrival of grandchildren, a factor cited alongside his decision not to renew his contract as Teva CEO. Schultz is Danish by nationality and has spent much of his career based in Europe, though his role at Teva required significant engagement with the company's operations in Israel and the United States.

Recognition

Schultz's leadership at Teva earned recognition primarily for the scale and speed of his restructuring efforts. Industry analysts and media outlets acknowledged his role in stabilizing a company that had been at serious risk of financial collapse at the time of his appointment. The CTech assessment, while noting the limitations of his growth strategy, credited him with executing one of the most significant corporate turnarounds in the pharmaceutical industry's recent history.

His appointment to the Hims & Hers board of directors in 2024 was presented by the company as a significant addition, reflecting the weight his pharmaceutical industry experience carried in corporate governance circles. His inclusion in speculation about the Novo Nordisk CEO succession in 2025 further indicated his standing as a recognized figure in global pharmaceutical leadership.

Legacy

Kåre Schultz's legacy is closely tied to his tenure at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, where he confronted one of the most daunting corporate turnaround challenges in the pharmaceutical sector. When he assumed the CEO role in November 2017, Teva was burdened by over $35 billion in debt, a deteriorating generics business, and a crisis of investor confidence following a series of leadership changes. His immediate and aggressive approach to cost reduction—cutting thousands of jobs, closing facilities, and tightening operational spending—was credited with preventing a far worse outcome for the company and its stakeholders.

At the same time, the assessment of his tenure has been mixed. While the stabilization effort was substantive, Teva under Schultz did not achieve a clear return to growth or a compelling strategic repositioning that would fundamentally alter the company's long-term trajectory. The specialty pharmaceutical pipeline, though it produced individual successes such as Ajovy and Austedo, did not fully compensate for the structural decline in the generics business. The company's legal liabilities, particularly related to opioid litigation, remained a significant overhang throughout his tenure and beyond.

The CTech summary that Schultz "kept Teva away from the abyss, but couldn't find a runway to growth" has become a frequently cited encapsulation of his time at the company. It reflects a broader tension in corporate leadership between the urgent demands of crisis management and the longer-term challenge of building sustainable competitive advantage.

Schultz's career after Teva, including his board appointment at Hims & Hers Health and his continued visibility in discussions of pharmaceutical leadership succession, suggests that his reputation within the industry remains that of an experienced and capable operator, particularly in situations requiring financial discipline and organizational restructuring.