Nate Walcker, 38

Being a CEO of an organization with more than 4,700 employees across 100 clinical and corporate locations is something not typically associated with the under 40 set. 

But Nate Walcker is not the typical CEO. 

Photo by Mark Wemple

As CEO of the Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute, based in Fort Myers, Walcker oversees a company with nearly $4 billion in total collections listed on its annual report.

So how does one become CEO before turning 40? 

Walcker’s story goes back to his high school days, when the football talent he demonstrated at a Minneapolis prep school earned him a spot on the roster at Columbia University in New York. After getting his bachelor’s in economics and an MBA, Walcker headed to Wall Street as a junior analyst with Merrill Lynch — a career path that requires a certain kind of person. “I’m a very competitive guy by nature,” Walcker says.

Walcker ended up in health care at Merrill, and the work kept him on the fast track for even bigger opportunities, including the chance to be CFO for a company headquartered in Florida. While nervous at first — “I thought, ‘I’m not a CPA, I’m a banker,’” he explains — encouragement from one of his first bosses helped him take the leap to go in-house with FCS in 2019. He became CEO a year later.

That mentor, Lisa Carnoy, says Walcker, has pushed him to get out of his comfort zone, using, in part, a line from tennis legend Billie Jean King, that “pressure is a privilege.”

Being the boss, of course, takes up a lot of time, and his three young children — ages 6, 3, and 1 — get a lot of the rest. So how long will Walcker stay on this track?

Asked about his long-term prospects with FCS, he offers: “I will serve at this organization in whatever capacity I can be useful.” A solid CEO-like answer, even for a young guy.