Jeff George

CEO
Performance Health

Jeff George is the CEO and a board director at Performance Health, a leader in consumer healthcare and the largest global manufacturer and distributor of products to the physical therapy, sports medicine and rehabilitation markets. Its market-leading brands, which are sold in over 100 countries, include Biofreeze®, TheraBand®, TheraPearl®, Cramer®, Sammons Preston® and Rolyan®. Based in Chicago, Performance Health is owned by the private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners.

George previously served on the Novartis Group executive committee from 2008 to 2016, first as division head and CEO of Sandoz (2008-2014), Novartis’s $10 billion generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars subsidiary, and then as division head and CEO of Alcon (2014-2016), Novartis’s then $10 billion eye care subsidiary. In both of his divisional CEO roles at Novartis, George was responsible for leading more than 25,000 associates globally across more than 160 countries and had primary line leadership and management responsibility for all functions, regions and franchises.

Prior to leading Sandoz, George served on the Novartis Pharma executive committee as head of emerging markets for the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and CIS, after serving as vice president and head of Western and Eastern Europe for Novartis Vaccines. Before joining Novartis, George worked in retail and consumer goods as senior director of strategic planning & business development at Gap Inc., where he led growth, licensing and European expansion efforts for one of its divisions. Prior to this, he was an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company in San Francisco and worked in emerging markets private equity in South Africa and Washington D.C.

George holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School and a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he studied international economics and emerging markets political economy and was a John Watzek Fellow. He received his bachelor’s degree in international relations, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Carleton College.

George serves on the board of directors at Roam Analytics, a Stanford- and venture-backed Silicon Valley machine learning and artificial intelligence healthcare data analytics firm. He served on the board of directors for AdvaMed from 2014 to 2016 and is a member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO). He was twice named to Fortune’s “40 under 40” list of up-and-coming leaders. George is married with two daughters and enjoys running, coaching soccer, live music, meditation and international affairs.