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Medtronic Chief Executive Officer Omar Ishrak announced his intention to retire in the beginning of 2Q20, following the end of the company’s fiscal year. At that time, he will become Executive Chairman of Medtronic (MDT).
Geoff Martha, currently Executive Vice President of MDT’s Restorative Therapies Group (RTG, under which MDT’s spine revenue is reported), will assume the newly-created role of Medtronic President in 4Q19 and succeed Ishrak as CEO next year. Brett Wall, President of Medtronic’s Brain Therapies division, will succeed Martha as EVP and Group President of RTG.
MDT’s board noted that Mr. Ishrak is approaching the company’s mandatory executive officer retirement of 65 years of age.
In his role as Executive Chairman, he will counsel and guide leadership, oversee CEO succession and drive the ongoing execution of long-term strategic plans.
Mr. Ishrak joined MDT in 2011, coming on board amidst numerous issues with the company’s INFUSE rhBMP-2 product. He has been present for a number of orthopedic/spine-centric acquisitions, including China Kanghui, Responsive Orthopedics, Mazor Robotics and Titan Spine, as well as the company’s $50 billion acquisition of Covidien in 2015–the largest medtech merger ever. Since 2011, he has presided over a doubling of the company’s overall annual revenue.
Geoff Martha has been with Medtronic for eight years. As head of Strategy and Business Development, he led the acquisition of Covidien, the $10 billion global manufacturer of surgical products and supplies. In July 2014, he was named Chief Integration Officer to lead the integration of Covidien into Medtronic.
Mr. Ishrak commented, “Today, we announced leadership changes that meet both the Board’s objective of executing a thoughtful leadership transition as well as my personal desire to begin transitioning my duties as CEO to a new leader coinciding with the start of our next fiscal year. This plan and its timing enable Geoff and I to partner on achieving Medtronic’s key financial performance goals as well as delivering on our critical pipeline milestones, including several important product launches.
“Leading Medtronic as CEO is an honor and a privilege, and I know that Geoff is the right leader to take Medtronic to the next level of its growth and evolution. Geoff is a results-oriented, dynamic, and innovative business leader who is passionately committed to our Mission, the advancement of our growth strategy and the development and diversity of our people. I am confident he has the right track record, commitment, vision and judgment to lead our company.”
