One of the most influential people in the Pharmaceutical industry was William Campbell Steere Jr. He joined the company in 1959 and became CEO in 1991. Steere became CEO juts as Pfizer's top selling drugs Lipitor and Viagra were starting to take off. These drugs caused great prosperity for Pfizer and made them a stock market superstar. When Steere became CEO he began to focus completely on research and development of nee medications. His complete focus on the pharmaceutical side of Pfizer caused many major sell offs of companies Pfizer owned. Anything not relevant to the productions of new during Steele sold off of the company. This consolidation made Pfizer even more potent in the drug world and pushed them to the top spot in their market. During his reign the company was called one of the most admired and best managed companies of the time. Steer stepped down as CEO and Chairman of the board in 2001 but did not leave the company. He received a consulting job and was able to keep a seat on the board for another decade. Steere’s complete focus on just pharmaceuticals and his dedication to the company pushed the company above and beyond what it had ever been before and made Steele a star among the pharmaceutical world. His influence has still been heavily felt even a decade after his retirement through the CEO Jeff Kindler who was heavily influenced by Steere's vision and was even helped into the position by Steere. Kindler recently stepped down from his position after a slew of controversy surrounding his position.
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