Longtime Merck executive Ken Frazier, one of the few remaining Black CEOs of a Fortune 500 company, is retiring. Frazier, Merck’s CEO since early 2011, is an advocate for minority advancement who took on then-President Trump’s tacit support of white supremacists. Frazier’s leadership helped bring Merck one of the most lucrative medicines in history, $14 billion-a-year cancer blockbuster Keytruda. Frazier, 66, will retire on June 30 and will be replaced by Rob Davis, the chief financial officer since 2014, the company said Thursday as it announced quarterly financial results. Frazier will become executive chairman of the board during a transition period.
