Italian businessman Stefano Pessina is the Executive Chairman of Alliance Boots and he has an estimated net worth of $9.91 billion in April 2019.

According to Forbes, he is the sixth richest person in Italy and is ranked 189th on the World's Billionaires List.

A former nuclear engineer, Mr. Pessina earned his billions when he took over the family’s pharmaceutical wholesaler in Naples in 1977. He later turned it into Alliance Sante, a Franco-Italian pharmaceutical wholesale group. In 1997, it merged with Alliance UniChem where he joined its Board of Directors. He served as its Chief Executive Officer, its Executive Deputy Chairman, and later its Executive Chairman.

In 2006, the pharmaceutical wholesaler group merged with the U.K. pharmacy chain, Boots Group, which became the current Alliance Boots. After a year, it became a privately-held company in a $22 billion deal with financing from leading global investment firm, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR). This move is considered the biggest buyout in Europe to date. With its effort to expand globally, Alliance Boots has formed a strategic partnership with China's fifth largest pharmaceutical wholesaler, Nanjing Pharmaceutical, in September 2012.

Last year, Stefano Pessina’s fortune more than doubled with the whopping purchase by Walgreen of a chunk of Alliance Boots in mid-2012. Walgreen paid a reported $6.7 billion in cash and shares for a 45% stake in the company, along with some 3,300 retail outlets in 25 counties and revenues of $35.7 billion. He took his payment in Walgreen’s equity, and he currently owns 8% of its stock. He also holds around half of his stake at Alliance Boots, which is roughly 18% and is valued at $3.3 billion. He has been on the board of Walgreen since August 2012. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Consumer Goods Forum.