When Christophe Weber became CEO of Takeda Pharmaceuticals in 2015, one Japanese newspaper put the word “betrayal” on its front page. Straight away, people started asking how long he would stay, “because foreigners don’t last very long in Japan,” he recalls. Weber, who will retire this summer, is credited with having transformed Takeda into a globally competitive biopharmaceutical R&D company. Christophe Weber: We decided to choose the best moment for a transition [based on] the business situation of the company. There is always this fear that you are a lame duck, but you need to have an excellent relationship with your successor.