The heady heights of big business may seem out of reach for most of us. But in a weekly series, BBC News Online looks at the lives of the UK's top bosses - and uncovers the early secrets of company head honchos.
Matthew Emmens, 51, joined Shire Pharmaceuticals as chief executive in March 2003 after almost 20 years of work in the drugs industry.
What was your first car?
My first car was a 1961 Chevrolet convertible. I wanted a Corvette, but that was just a dream as I was paying for school.
What was your first job - and how much were you paid?
My first self-employed job was washing cars for people at a tennis club that was close by.
My first real "employment" was washing dishes at a Howard Johnson's restaurant.
What was the first house you owned and how much did it cost?
I moved to Roanoke, Virginia with Merck & Co for my first job out of college and bought a small house "a ways out from town".
It cost $27,400 dollars and the payment was $247 per month. My down payment was my first month's pay cheque.
It was funny, when I was moving in, the neighbours kept waiting for a truck to come with all my belongings and furniture.
However, there was no need for a truck . Everything that I owned fit in the car and I still had room in the back seat!
When my new boss found out that I had gone out and bought a house during the training program he said: "You shouldn't have done that - we don't yet know if you are going to make it here." I guess that debt is one driver for success.
Who is your biggest inspiration?
It was not just one person. Rather, the heroes that inspired me were pilots and astronauts. It was the first test pilot that broke the sound barrier and later the people involved in the US space program.
The fact that we proclaimed that we would put a man on the moon without knowing how to do it at the time left an indelible mark on my beliefs.
It made me believe that visions and dreams could come true through determination and that obstacles and risks are part of everything we do.
So my heroes include the test pilot Chuck Yeager and the astronauts, especially John Glenn.
What's the best bit of business advice you've had?
The best piece of business advice was given to me by a man named John Lyons who ran the US division of Merck & Co. in the early 80's.
He told me that when you are new in a job, spend most of the first six months listening even though people will expect you to tell and talk a lot.
His reasoning was simple.
Early on you will have no credibility and you are likely to make huge mistakes due to lack of knowledge.
He would often say that "people who listen always seem smarter in the long run than the ones doing all the talking".
What was the proudest moment of your career?
My proudest moment, to date, was participating in the creation of Astra Merck, the joint venture between Astra and Merck & Co, and then subsequently making Prilosec the biggest selling product in the world while having our sales force rated number one in the States.
This experience convinced me that it is the belief of people that creates the new and the successful.
Having said that, I believe that my proudest moment is yet to come and will occur during my time with Shire.
Shire Pharmaceuticals was founded in the UK in 1986, and after six mergers and takeovers is now the UK's third largest drug company. The expansion has seen the group spread into the markets of the US, Canada and continental Europe.
Since 1997, revenues at the firm have grown from $7m to over $1bn in 2002.
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