Starks Stepping Down from St. Jude Medical CEO Post

Marie Thibault

There will soon be a new leader at the helm of St. Jude Medical. Daniel Starks, who has been CEO since 2004, will retire as president and CEO at the beginning of 2016 and become the executive chairman of the company's board of directors. Michael Rousseau, currently chief operating officer at St. Jude, will take over the reins of the Minnesota company January 1.

According to a company press release, Rousseau has extensive experience in St. Jude's Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) division—which is perhaps the business area for which the company is best known. He started at the company in 1999 as a senior vice president in CRM global marketing and soon led CRM marketing and sales. He became the division's group president in 2008 and was promoted to chief operating officer in 2014. 

"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," Starks said in the press release. 

In the release, 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."

During Starks' tenure at St. Jude, the company's annual revenue has almost tripled. The company has made several notable acquisitions in the past few years, including CardioMEMS, Spinal Modulation, and most recently, announced plans to buy LVAD maker Thoratec.

In addition to guiding the company through these acquisitions, Starks was known for shying away from media inquiries. MD+DI's Arundhati Parmar has tried unsuccessfully to sit down with him one-on-one, similar to her interviews with Medtronic's Omar Ishrak. Will Rousseau will be more open to interviews? That remains to be seen. 

Marie Thibault is the associate editor at MD+DI. Reach her at [email protected] and on Twitter @medtechmarie.  

[Images courtesy of ST. JUDE MEDICAL, INC./FREEDIGITALPHOTOS.NET]