Wall Street Journal has uncovered an unusual contractual arrangement for Michael Mahoney as he returns to Boston Scientific as reported on this site in the past few weeks. Whether this has any relevance to the European Medical Devices community matters less to MedLatest than the fact that it’s an interesting story pertaining to two household names in our industry. According to the Wall Street Journal article; “Johnson & Johnson’s insistence on enforcing a non-compete agreement to keep senior executive Michael Mahoney from joining archrival Boston Scientific Corp. as chief executive led to unusual employment terms at the medical device maker, according to people familiar with the matter.”
“J&J agreed to allow Mr. Mahoney to join Boston Scientific only after the company promised the 46-year-old won’t supervise competing businesses or become its chief executive until late 2012 and agreed to have its general counsel personally monitor compliance, those people said.”
The enmity between the two organisations is well known in the industry. According to the article; “The poaching of Mr. Mahoney adds a new chapter in a heated competition between Boston Scientific and J&J. The companies have long fought over market share for their products, such as stents that prop open clogged arteries, a business that J&J is exiting. They also dueled over acquiring implantable defibrillator maker Guidant Corp., which Boston Scientific bought for $28.4 billion in 2006 after outbidding J&J in a last-minute gambit.”
“Boston Scientific has struggled to make the Guidant acquisition pay off. Doing so will continue to be a challenge for Mr. Mahoney, as will finding growth amid slowing sales for many medical devices.”
If you really want to read the full article click here.
Source: Medlatest staff, Wallstreet Journal
published: September 20, 2011 in: Boston Scientific, Johnson & Johnson, People, USA