Medtronic

In 1949, Earl Bakken and Palmer Hermundslie started Medtronic, a medical electronics repair business in Minneapolis, working at first from two boxcars used as a garage at the Hermundslie family home.⁠[1]

Bakken and Hermundslie were brothers-in-law. Open-heart surgeon C. Walton Lillehei asked Bakken to build a better pacemaker than the one then in use; during a blackout the existing pacemaker’s battery could not be charged, and within four weeks Bakken built the first wearable, battery-powered pacemaker. Bakken retired in 1989 but remained involved with the company.⁠[2]

On August 28, 2001, the company completed its acquisitions of MiniMed Inc., a maker of external programmable insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitoring systems, and Medical Research Group, Inc., in transactions valued at about $3.8 billion. The two were combined into Medtronic MiniMed, headquartered in Northridge, California. Art Collins was then president and chief executive officer.⁠[3]

Omar Ishrak joined the company from GE Healthcare and was named chairman and chief executive officer in 2011. Geoff Martha joined from GE the same year and later served as chief integration officer for the Covidien acquisition.⁠[4]

On June 15, 2014, the company announced a $42.9 billion cash-and-stock agreement to acquire Covidien, under which Covidien shareholders would receive $35.19 in cash and 0.956 of an ordinary share of the new company. The deal created two new Irish companies, New Medtronic and New Medtronic Sub. Covidien had moved its headquarters to Ireland for tax reasons in 2009.⁠[5]

On January 26, 2015, Medtronic plc completed its acquisition of Covidien plc, combining Medtronic, Inc. and Covidien plc under Medtronic plc in a deal valued at about $49.9 billion at that day’s closing price. The new company had its principal executive offices in Ireland and its operational headquarters in Minneapolis; its shares were to trade on the New York Stock Exchange as MDT from January 27.⁠[6]

The structure, called an “inversion,” allowed the company to move its headquarters to lower-tax Ireland, whose corporate tax rate was 12.5 percent compared with 35 percent in the United States. The company planned to invest $10 billion in medical technology research and development over the following decade and to cut operating costs by $850 million over three years.⁠[7]

In August 2019 the company announced that chairman and chief executive Omar Ishrak planned to retire as CEO at the end of fiscal 2020, to be succeeded by Geoff Martha, who would first take a newly created president role leading the company’s operating groups and regions.⁠[8]

Martha was then executive vice president of the Restorative Therapies Group. Under the announced plan, Ishrak’s retirement as CEO took effect on April 26, 2020.⁠[9]

Martha took over as chief executive on April 27, 2020, and Ishrak became the company’s first executive chairman to guide the transition.⁠[4]

In November 2019, after more than 74,000 complaints, the company began recalling retainer rings for its MiniMed 600 series insulin pumps. After inspecting the diabetes group’s Northridge headquarters, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter dated December 9, 2021, faulting the company for underestimating patient risk and for inadequate complaint investigation and reporting.⁠[10]

The retainer ring problem could result in users receiving an incorrect insulin dose. On April 25, 2023, the FDA lifted the warning letter, and the company said all associated regulatory restrictions had been resolved; the MiniMed 780G insulin pump had received FDA approval the previous Friday.⁠[11]

In October 2020 the company agreed to pay $9.2 million to settle U.S. Justice Department allegations that from 2010 to 2019 it paid kickbacks to a South Dakota neurosurgeon to promote its SynchroMed II infusion pumps and failed to accurately report the payments. The settlement contained no admission of liability.⁠[12]

On May 21, 2025, the company announced its intent to separate its Diabetes business into a standalone company, to be led by Diabetes head Que Dallara. The preferred path was an initial public offering followed by a split-off, with completion expected within 18 months. In fiscal 2025 the business represented 8% of company revenue and 4% of segment operating profit.⁠[13]

On February 24, 2026, MiniMed launched the roadshow for its initial public offering of 28 million shares of common stock, with an expected price of $25 to $28 per share and a planned Nasdaq listing under the symbol MMED. The company said a split-off was its preferred structure for disposing of the remaining shares, but no final decision had been made.⁠[14]

MiniMed priced the offering at $20 per share on March 5, 2026, and its shares began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on March 6. After the offering the company held about 90.03% of MiniMed, or 88.7% if the underwriters exercised their option in full.⁠[15]

MiniMed completed its initial public offering on March 9, 2026.⁠[16]

On June 3, 2026, the company announced fiscal 2026 net sales of $36.364 billion, up 8.4% from $33.537 billion, and net income attributable to Medtronic of $4.801 billion, compared with $4.662 billion, or $3.73 per diluted share. Geoff Martha was then chairman and chief executive officer.⁠[17]

The company’s fiscal 2026 ended on April 24, 2026. It had three reportable segments, Cardiovascular, Neuroscience and Medical Surgical, and over 95,000 full-time employees. Its principal executive offices are in Galway, Ireland.⁠[16]

On October 14, 2026, the company announced the results of its exchange offer, accepting 55,032,401 of its ordinary shares in exchange for 252,813,348 shares of MiniMed common stock; the offer was 5.4 times subscribed. On October 15, MiniMed announced the completion of its separation, after which Medtronic no longer held any equity stake in MiniMed.⁠[18]

At separation, MiniMed had about 8,000 employees and a $3.1 billion product portfolio, with Que Dallara as chief executive. Geoff Martha said the separation “marks an important milestone for both companies.”⁠[19]