Former Chairman, CEO, Allergan
WHY: Founding father of OC’s ophthalmic and drugmaking industry. Joined father’s eyecare-focused pharma firm in the 1950s. Later moved to Irvine when little else was here. Botox “started as something we thought might do $10 million.”
RECENT: Chicago-based AbbVie buying Allergan, now headquartered in N.J., for nearly $63B in cash and stock.
NOTABLE: Established Gavin Herbert Eye Institute at UC Irvine Health. With wife, Ninetta, has backed eye research for decades with millions of dollars.
