After some weeks of media speculation, pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has at last announced that long-standing chief executive Sir Andrew Witty will be retiring. It's a development that comes as no real surprise as Mr Witty's position has looked to be increasingly under scrutiny for some time. In the past three years a sharp downturn in GSK's sales and profits coincided with a damaging corruption scandal in China, which has resulted in shareholders calling for an end to Sir Andrew's eight-year tenure as chief.
Sir Andrew, who joined GSK as a graduate trainee 32 years ago, will vacate the top job in March 2017. Although he and the board have said that the timetable will allow for a thorough search for a successor, the decision to give such a long deadline for his departure has been regarded by some - including outspoken fund manager Neil Woodford - as a bad one.
With a successor yet to be named, fierce speculation as to who will take up the reins has already begun. Internal candidates are likely to include Abbas Hussain, head of pharmaceuticals, Emma Walmsley, who runs the consumer healthcare unit and Simon Dingemans, the current finance director. While David Epstein, head of pharma at Swiss group Novartis, is seen as a potential external contender. But it has been suggested the long retirement deadline is likely to create a power vacuum as candidates fight for the top job, something that definitely won't be beneficial to the company. Outspoken fund manager and GSK investor Neil Woodford has stated he would prefer an external candidate.
