Eli Lilly named David Ricks CEO in 2017, the year its first tirzepatide data arrived

Eli Lilly and Company gave David Ricks both the chair and chief executive roles in 2017 ^[1]. That same year, the Indianapolis drugmaker got its first data from testing tirzepatide in humans, the molecule that is now the active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound ^[2].

Ricks has described that moment as decisive. Speaking to investors at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in 2024, he recalled a call from Dan Skovronsky, Lilly's chief scientific and medical officer. "People ask, 'When did you know tirzepatide was going to be big?'" Ricks said. "The answer is that day." ^[2]

Lilly closed 2017 with a market value of $92.99 billion, up about 14.5% over the year ^[3]. By the end of 2024 the figure was $704.31 billion, and it finished 2025 at $966.15 billion ^[3]. On Nov. 21, 2025, Lilly became the first pharmaceutical company to touch $1 trillion in market value, a total based on 945,383,757 outstanding shares ^[2]. As of September 2026, CompaniesMarketCap ranked it 15th among the world's most valuable public companies at $1.015 trillion ^[3].

Much of that rise traces to the two tirzepatide products. Combined sales of Mounjaro and Zepbound reached nearly $19 billion in the first nine months of 2025, overtaking Merck & Co.'s cancer immunotherapy Keytruda ^[2]. Wall Street analysts expect the market for such medicines to reach $100 billion in annual sales by 2030 ^[2].

One point in the record is inconsistent. BioPharma Dive describes Ricks as Lilly's CEO since 2016 ^[2], while his Wikipedia biography says he assumed the chair and chief executive positions in 2017 ^[1]. The sources do not settle the difference.

Ricks was born in 1967 and graduated from Purdue University in 1990, then earned an MBA from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business in 1996 ^[1]. He sits on the boards of Adobe and Purdue's board of trustees ^[1], and his pay package for 2024 totaled $29.2 million ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

Tirzepatide is the same molecule in Mounjaro, Lilly's diabetes drug, and in Zepbound, its therapy for obesity ^[2]. Zepbound can help people lose about one-fifth of their body weight, and Mounjaro helped four in five people with uncontrolled blood sugar bring it into a healthy range, according to BioPharma Dive ^[2]. Keeping that program moving after the 2017 data is what put both options on the market.

The scale of demand had effects beyond the balance sheet. It strained manufacturing at Lilly and at rival Novo Nordisk, leading to shortages that compounding pharmacies moved to fill ^[2]. In November 2025, both companies agreed to pricing deals with the Trump administration, though questions remain about what those agreements actually change ^[2].

What happens next

Whether the pricing agreements translate into lower costs at the pharmacy counter has not been reported ^[2]. Lilly's valuation has continued climbing past the trillion-dollar mark, and its workforce of roughly 47,000 people is still smaller than those of Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co. ^[2][3].