In a live tribute recorded on January 16, 2022, Art Levinson, CEO of Genentech, reflects on his 28‑year tenure, expressing deep gratitude to employees, recounting the emotional response to his farewell email, and affirming his commitment to a smooth transition under Roche leadership. He emphasizes the company’s founding vision set by Bob Swanson and Herb (presumably Herb), the core values that have guided Genentech’s success, and the philosophical alignment that attracts the right people. Levinson underscores the patient‑centric mission, projecting confidence that future work will benefit millions more. The tribute concludes with a brief thank‑you from a colleague (Speaker B), who lauds the smart, great people at Genentech and reiterates the focus on patients as the ultimate purpose of the organization.
Chapters
I had no idea about this. My assistant Aggie yesterday said, "Will you trust me on something?" And I didn't respond probably as quickly as she was hoping. I kind of gave her a funny look and she said, "Well, something apparently is being planned and I don't know if you know about it," which I didn't know about it, "but just trust me and kind of follow my directions here." So, wow. My goodness, I'm not sure what to say. Maybe I'll just say a few words about my email that I sent out yesterday. I spent a lot of time on that thing. I had about 18 different drafts of it. I really wasn't sure exactly how to strike the balance between really recognizing the momentous nature of the occasion and obviously some element of sadness that's associated with it, but at the same time really trying to convey my sincere optimism for the future. I spent the whole morning with some of the senior folks from Roche, as did Sue here, and every interaction that I have with the Roche folks only convinces me that they are absolutely committed, and I just say this with the utmost sincerity, to making this place work and thrive, as I said in the email. We're a very special place, they recognize that. This is going to be a big part of their future. I can tell you that what I've told Severn and Franz Hummer, that I've been with this company 28 years, it's very close to half my life. I can't tell you what the very, very long-term future will bring, and I don't mean to sound ominous there, but that's just the the truth. But I'm completely and fully committed to making sure that whatever I can do— and I know I'm going to speak for Sue because we've had this conversation, and Sue I have to just acknowledge as being my unbelievably trusted and valuable companion in the years here. That's really— we're both completely committed to making sure that whatever we can do to help with the transition and turnover to the best possible organization so that we're continuing to be successful and do wonderful things in the future. We're completely committed to that. Let me— I gotta just say one more thing. I have received more emails in the last 24 or so hours than I've ever had from any node by so far. I haven't responded to every one, but I've read every single one carefully. You don't know how much I appreciate the thoughts being expressed there. I gotta tell you that I've even on many of them, just, you know, almost choked up. And I don't consider myself that emotional of a person, but, you know, the sentiments that have been expressed, you know, both on behalf of me and the company and the patients and everything that we do is just completely overwhelming. So I know a lot of you kind of preface this and say, well, you're not even sure I'll ever look at this email, or that I must be inundated. I am inundated. That doesn't make any one of them any less special. So thank you very much for that. I'm going to put Sue on the spot and ask her to say something. I didn't even know that I was going to have a microphone up here. And maybe before I end, I got to just thank all the employees here. I mean, not just the people that turned out, and this is really special and extraordinary of you to do this, but people kind of always ask me, you know, what has made this place magic? And It, what I, I think it really goes back to the foundations, the, the beginnings, the vision upon which Bob and Herb set forth the company. And what we've tried to do, and I think we've done it really quite faithfully, is, you know, the business changes from month to month and sometimes even day to day, but we've really tried to stay true to the, the core values that they forward and, and really have done our best to recognize that those values have served us extremely well and really proud to provide the foundation for for everything that we do and hopefully will continue to do. And we're not the place that every single employee is going to find perfect because we're kind of a weird place. But the important point is to make sure that there's a kind of a philosophical match between the values that we espouse and live for, attract the kind of people that for whom those values resonate. And I think the magic is in large part is the fact that we have these kinds of people here, and it means that my connections with everybody in the company are particularly close, and I just can't thank everybody enough for that. So God bless you. Thanks a lot. My arm hurts.
So Art told me he wouldn't come unless I came with him. So since he did and he gave me the mic, I have the mic and here you are. So on behalf of about 11,600 people A giant thank you to Art for everything you've done for all of us. So the only other thing I want to say is I just want to second what Art said. The best thing about being at Genentech is working with smart, great people. It always has been., and it always will be the best thing. Genentech is all of you, all of us. And so I'm going to end because you don't need a speech. You can clap for Art some more, which is the fun thing. Look on the building behind you. The best thing about this place is what we've created for patients. So I expect 5 years, 10 years from now, all of the things we've been working on are even better than ever, and there's millions more patients we'll touch. So that's the thing you got to keep in front of you and keep precious and special. So keep your eye on the patients. Thanks.
