GLP-1s Took Eli Lilly To $1 Trillion. CEO Dave Ricks Is Betting Billions He Can Do It Again

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As CEO of the largest, most successful drugmaker on the planet, Dave Ricks sure spends a lot of time thinking about risk. Eli Lilly’s weight-loss and diabetes drugs have become wildly successful beyond anyone’s imagination. Its latest 12-month revenue (through June 30) surged 50% to $79.7 billion, with Zepbound (for weight loss) and Mounjaro (for diabetes) accounting for 62% of the total. In November 2025, its market cap crossed the $1 trillion mark, making it the first pharma company to do so (it’s currently hovering around $1.1 trillion). Lilly has more weight-loss game-changers coming. A pill called Foundayo gained FDA approval in April. It plans to submit a next-gen experimental drug, retatrutide, to the FDA in the first quarter of 2027. (People are so excited about “reta,” as it’s called online, that they’re buying substances claiming to be the drug on the black market.) But the clock is ticking. All drugs have a shelf life because of how pharma patents work. Likely at some point in the 2030s, the exploding market for its weight-loss drugs will collapse as generics flood in. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyfeldman/2026/10/15/glp-1s-took-eli-lilly-to-1-trillion-ceo-dave-ricks-is-betting-billions-he-can-do-it-again/ Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1 Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more: https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes: http://forbes.com Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.