St. Jude’s Daniel J. Starks is to retire from his position as President and Chief Executive Officer and has been elected Executive Chairman of the St. Jude Medical Board of Directors. He’ll be replaced by Michael T. Rousseau from January 1, 2016, who will become President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a member of the St. Jude Medical Board of Directors.
Background
Dan Starks became Chairman, President and CEO of St. Jude Medical in May 2004 and during his 11-year tenure the company grew from approximately $1.9 billion in annual revenue in 2003 to more than $5.6 billion in annual revenue in 2014. The bold claim is that this translates into over 20,000 patients worldwide who are helped by a St. Jude Medical device each business day. As Executive Chairman, Mr. Starks will assist in strategic customer, business and key stakeholder relationships globally and act as a strategic advisor to Mr. Rousseau in addition to his governance and oversight responsibilities.
Michael Rousseau joined St. Jude Medical in 1999 as Senior Vice President, Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) Global Marketing, and later that year, CRM marketing and sales were combined under his leadership. In January 2008, he was promoted to Group President and assumed responsibility for the company’s four product divisions. He was named Chief Operating Officer in 2014, overseeing global sales, marketing, technology development, operations, supply chain and quality functions.
In its press release, St. Jude says Mr. Rousseau has helped to drive strategic transformation across virtually every area of the company. He was the architect of the recent, significant integration of four product divisions into centralized global functions with a shared global vision, mission and growth strategy based on accelerating innovation. During this time and under Mr. Rousseau’s leadership, St. Jude Medical has achieved significant cost-savings and operational efficiencies. He led the realignment of global supply chain management, restructured the company’s overseas manufacturing, and established a global quality system to put a global infrastructure in place to prepare the company for future growth. Recognizing the changing customer landscape, he broadened the company’s global customer service operations with a focus to enhance the experience for St. Jude Medical customers worldwide.
Company comments
“St. Jude Medical is moving forward with this leadership succession from a position of strength and, because of this, we believe it’s the right time to make this transition,” Starks said. “Our consistent ability to deliver impactful technologies that improve patient outcomes is what ultimately drives sales and creates shareholder value. The progress we have made with our innovation-based growth program is becoming increasingly visible. We have demonstrated our ability to accelerate sales driven by our key growth driver programs, including CardioMEMS, our atrial fibrillation portfolio and our robust pipeline of neuromodulation products for chronic pain.”
“St. Jude Medical’s mission is to transform the treatment of expensive epidemic diseases where medical device technology can improve patient care and reduce the costs of health care,” continued Starks. “Mike’s vision, expertise and proven track record at St. Jude Medical make him a natural choice for CEO. Today’s announcement underscores our deep bench of talent and, together, we will ensure a seamless transition for the benefit of all St. Jude Medical stakeholders.”
For his part, Mr Rousseau said; “Over the past 16 years, I have had the privilege of working alongside Dan to change the company from being largely dependent on valves and CRM devices to being an industry leader with a diverse disease state management portfolio. With our recent acquisitions and our strong, robust product pipeline, I am focused on remaining steadfast in our commitment to innovation and growth so that we can continue Dan’s legacy of bringing the right solutions at the right time to our customers, while improving patient outcomes and reducing health care costs,” said Rousseau. “This is an exciting time for our industry, and I am highly confident in our ability to continue to deliver technologies that transform patient care in markets around the world. I am honored to assume this leadership role in January and look forward to the opportunity to continue shaping the great legacy of St. Jude Medical.”
Source: Business Wire
published: September 10, 2015 in: Financial, People, St Jude