Richard Handler
Jefferies LLC

Okay, everybody. It is my treat. I'm Rich Handler, CEO of Jefferies. I get the pleasure of interviewing my good friend, Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer.

Before we get going, the last time I interviewed Albert, and I was talking with him backstage, it was right in the heat of COVID when no one knew what was going to happen. And I had -- at the time, I think we had about 5,000 Jefferies employees on the Zoom. And quite honestly, I was -- I can't convey to you enough the calming, the sense of hope, the sense of purpose and the sense of strategy that you gave our firm at that point in time. So before we start, I want to give Albert and his entire company a big round of applause.

Richard Handler
Jefferies LLC

Give us just a little bit of you growing up and a little bit about your background so people know who you are. And it's a pretty interesting background.

Albert Bourla
Chairman of the Board & CEO

I'm Greek. I used to say I'm Greek by birth, American by choice. I studied in Greece. I studied veterinary science. I did a PhD. All I wanted was to stay in academia to become a professor. Pfizer in Greece had an animal health group at the time, now it's Zoetis, that they were keen to hire me. They put an offer I couldn't resist. I said that I will go sabbatical a year or 2, and then I will go back to academia. But then once I joined Pfizer, I liked so much the energy of the private