Dame Emma Natasha Walmsley, DBE, is a prominent British business executive who served as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the global biopharmaceutical company GSK plc from April 2017 until January 2026. Her tenure was defined by a significant strategic restructuring of the firm, including the separation of its consumer healthcare business and a sharpened focus on vaccines and specialty medicines. Born in June 1969 in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire (now Cumbria), England, Walmsley is the daughter of Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Walmsley, a former Chief of Defence Procurement at the UK Ministry of Defence, and Lady Christina Walmsley. She attended St Swithun’s School, a boarding school in Winchester, before pursuing her higher education at the University of Oxford. She graduated from Christ Church, Oxford, with a Master of Arts in Classics and Modern Languages. Walmsley began her professional career at the French cosmetics conglomerate L’Oréal, where she spent 17 years holding various general management and marketing positions in Paris, London, and New York. A significant portion of her tenure at L’Oréal involved international operations; in 2007, she was appointed as the General Manager of Consumer Products for L’Oréal China, where she oversaw the company’s business operations, including brands such as L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline, and Garnier. In May 2010, Walmsley transitioned to the pharmaceutical sector, joining GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) as President of Consumer Healthcare Europe. Her rapid ascent within the company continued in 2011 when she was named President of Consumer Healthcare Worldwide, joining the company's executive team. In March 2015, she became the CEO of GSK Consumer Healthcare, where she was instrumental in managing the joint venture between GSK and Novartis. In April 2017, Walmsley was appointed CEO of GSK, succeeding Sir Andrew Witty. This appointment made her the first woman to lead a major pharmaceutical company. Her leadership at GSK was marked by a strategic pivot designed to focus the company’s capital and resources on its core biopharmaceutical pipeline—specifically vaccines and specialty medicines. A cornerstone of this strategy was the demerger of the consumer healthcare division, which was spun off in 2022 to form an independent, publicly traded company named Haleon. Throughout her career, Walmsley has received significant professional recognition. In the 2020 Birthday Honours, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her services to the pharmaceutical industry and business. She has also been consistently ranked among the world’s most powerful women in business by publications such as Fortune and Forbes. Additionally, she has served as an independent director on the board of Microsoft, having joined in 2019. In September 2025, it was announced that Walmsley would step down as CEO of GSK effective January 1, 2026, to be succeeded by Luke Miels. She agreed to remain with the company in a transitionary capacity through September 2026 to ensure the continuity of the firm’s strategic objectives. Walmsley is married to David Owen, and the couple has four children.