Michael L. Riordan

Michael L. Riordan, a physician with an MD from Johns Hopkins and an MBA, founded Gilead Sciences in 1987 while at Menlo Ventures. He served as CEO until 1996, took the company public in 1992, and steered it toward antiviral drugs.

Michael Riordan founded Gilead in Foster City, California, in 1987. Before that he trained in medicine and worked in venture capital at Menlo Ventures, which provided early funding. A case of dengue fever contracted while abroad shaped his interest in antiviral drugs. The company, originally named Oligogen, started with antisense technology and was renamed Gilead after the biblical Balm of Gilead. Riordan led the 1992 IPO and in-licensed nucleotide analogs that later became the foundation of Gilead's HIV and hepatitis B drugs, including tenofovir. He hired John C. Martin, who succeeded him as CEO in 1996.