Posterity will determine the legacy of Medtronic's CEO, Omar Ishrak, but at least he is not afraid to take risks. 

Ishrak has embarked on a journey to remake Medtronic from being a provider of high-end lifesaving widgets to being a broader player in the continuum of care for certain chronic diseases like diabetes.  

He is also redefining the traditional relationship between device vendors and hospitals by trying to improve hospitals' operational efficiencies. Under his tenure, Medtronic is also venturing into assuming more risk in hospital purchasing contracts, something considered anathema even a few years ago.

With the $50 billion acquisition of Covidien, Ishrak earned the ire of politicians and medtech watchers against corporate inversions but made the case that having a broad footprint in the hospital's general surgery area is what the doctor ordered for a large medtech company working in a value-based environment where scale matters.