Waters Corporation
Scientific instruments company specializing in chromatography and mass spectrometry, led by Dr. Udit Batra who Smith and Robbins admire as an exceptional CEO
Waters Corporation
Overview
Waters Corporation is a scientific instruments company specializing in chromatography (separation of chemical compounds) and mass spectrometry. The company serves pharmaceutical, chemical, and healthcare industries with precision analytical instruments.
Why Fundsmith Admires It
Dr. Udit Batra's Leadership
Julian Robbins at the 2026 AGM named Dr. Udit Batra (CEO of Waters) as the CEO he most admires:
"Dr. Batra came in to Waters in September 2020. This was a company we had owned under the previous-but-one chief executive, when it had been quite successful, and then throughout the tenure of the immediately previous chief executive, when it had been much less successful.
He was very numbers-based. He didn't put out any snappy-named plans. He just went to people and said, 'Why don't we try something a little bit different?' The results were extraordinary in an incredibly quick period of time."
What Makes Him Exceptional
- Numbers-based approach — no grand strategy presentations
- Practical execution — "finding out where the equipment is, how long they've had it, and 'don't come back and be very proud that they've had it for 25 years — sell them a new one'"
- Quick results — extraordinary outcomes in short timeframe
Recent Acquisition
Waters just acquired a flow cytometry business from Becton Dickinson. Robbins noted: "We're buying it from Becton Dickinson, a company we once owned and sold, and there's never been a day I regretted selling it."
This gives Fundsmith confidence in the acquisition.
Related People
- terry-smith — Fundsmith's CIO
- julian-robbins — Fundsmith's Head of Research who named Batra as his most admired CEO
Related Concepts
- moat — Durable competitive position in scientific instruments
- quality-investing — What makes an exceptional CEO