Jeffrey B. Kindler

Former Chairman and CEO, Pfizer

Jeff Kindler is a Venture Partner at Lux Capital, a leading venture capital firm; a principal and senior advisor to Paragon Pharmaceuticals, a global investment firm that builds and manages innovative pharmaceutical companies; and a director at Starboard Capital Partners, a Connecticut-based private equity firm. He also serves on the boards of  Chipotle Mexican Grill; AgaMatrix, a developer and manufacturer of diabetes products; Intrexon, a synthetic biology company; Sheridan Healthcare, a provider of healthcare solutions to physicians, hospitals, and outpatient centers; PPD, a global contract drug discovery and development research organization; Tufts University; the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University; and the Manhattan Theatre Club. He is a member of President Obama’s Management Advisory Board.

Kindler was formerly the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pfizer, the world's largest research-based biopharmaceutical company, which he joined in January 2002 and from which he retired in December 2010. He joined Pfizer as Executive Vice President and General Counsel and, prior to his appointment as CEO in July 2006, he served as a Vice Chairman of the Company.

Kindler earned his BA in 1977 from Tufts University summa cum laude and his JD in 1980 from Harvard magna cum laude, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He began his career as an attorney at the Federal Communications Commission and served as a law clerk to Judge David L. Bazelon of the U.S. Court of Appeals of the D.C. Circuit and later as law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.He practiced civil and criminal litigation at the Washington D.C. firm of Williams & Connolly, where he became a partner.

In 1990, Kindler joined the General Electric Company, where he was Vice President of Litigation and Legal Policy. In 1996, he joined McDonald's Corporation as Executive Vice President and General Counsel, responsible for both legal and corporate affairs, and then moved into line management as President of Partner Brands, which included several restaurant brands such as Boston Market, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Donato’s Pizza, and Pret a Manger.

He previously served as Chairman of PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America) and of the U.S.-Japan Business Council and as a member of the President’s Export Council, the Shanghai Mayor’s Business Advisory Council, the Business Council, and the Business Roundtable. He has also previously served as a member of the boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Catalyst, the United Way of New York City, the Legal Aid Society of New York, and Lincoln Center.