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Karen Lynch
Former President & Chief Executive Officer of CVS Health; Experienced Executive in the Healthcare & Business Sectors
Karen S. Lynch, the former President and Chief Executive Officer of CVS Health, led more than 300,000 colleagues who were committed to delivering a superior health care experience for consumers by improving health outcomes, broadening access to care, and lowering costs. Under her leadership, CVS Health touched the lives of more than 100 million people through its health care benefits and pharmacy benefits management businesses, and its presence in over 9,000 community health destinations across the United States. She made significant contributions in the company's commitment to sustainability, setting bold goals to advance health equity and ensure a healthier planet for the people and communities CVS Health serves.
With over three decades of experience in the health care industry, Lynch became the first female president of Aetna in 2015, where she was responsible for delivering consumer-centric, holistic health care to the millions of people Aetna serves. Lynch’s leadership led to significant acquisitions at CVS Health, including the purchase of Oak Street Health for $10.5 billion and Signify for $8 billion. However, she stepped down from her position and was replaced as President and CEO of CVS Health by David Joyner on October 18, 2024.
Lynch had held executive positions at Cigna and Magellan Health before joining CVS Health, beginning her career with Ernst & Young as a certified public accountant. Further illustrating her influence in the healthcare and business sectors, Lynch was ranked as the highest-ranking female chief executive on the Fortune 500 list in 2021, and was a key figure in the CVS Health Charity Classic event. She served on the board of several high-profile organizations, including U.S. Bancorp, AHIP, The Business Council, Boston College Women’s Council, The Business Roundtable, and an advisory board member of IBM Watson Health. Additionally, she was a trustee of the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts and an honorary co-chair of the Komen Connecticut Race for the Cure benefiting breast cancer research.
In 2023, Lynch was selected for the TIME 100 annual list of the hundred most influential people in the world. She was consistently recognized for her powerful influence in business, ranking number one on Fortune's list of the Most Powerful Women in Business for three consecutive years (2021, 2022, and 2023). In the same year, she was ranked as the sixth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. Moreover, she was named "Healthcare CEO of the Year" by CEO Today in 2024.
Lynch graduated from Boston College and received her MBA from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. She has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science from the University of Hartford in 2022 and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Becker College in 2015. Apart from her professional achievements, Lynch delivered the commencement address at Bryant University in May 2024, and was one of the notable honorees in the inaugural 2021 Forbes 50 Over 50 list as well as receiving the 2021 Committee for Economic Development Distinguished Leadership Award.
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