Omar Ishrak, PhD
Omar Ishrak has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Medtronic since June 2011. Medtronic is the world’s leading medical technology company, with more than $27 billion in annual revenue, and operations reaching more than 160 countries worldwide. Medtronic offers technologies, solutions and therapies to treat a wide range of medical conditions, including cardiac and vascular diseases, respiratory, neurological and spinal conditions, diabetes, and more. The Medtronic Mission is to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life for millions of people around the world.
Since joining Medtronic, Omar has focused the company on three core strategies of Therapy Innovation, Economic Value and Globalization. These three strategies form the basis for Medtronic’s efforts to partner with its customers to drive high quality patient outcomes, expand patient access to healthcare, and lower costs in health care systems around the world. In 2014, Omar engineered the acquisition of Covidien, a $10 billion global manufacturer of surgical products and supplies. The acquisition of Covidien was the largest medical technology acquisition in the history of the industry.
Omar joined Medtronic from General Electric Company, where he spent 16 years, most recently as President and CEO of GE Healthcare Systems, a $12 billion division of GE Healthcare, with a broad portfolio of diagnostic, imaging, patient monitoring and life support systems. Omar also served as an Officer and a Senior Vice President of GE.
Earlier in his career, Omar amassed 13 years of technology development and business management experience, holding leadership positions at Diasonics/Vingmed, and various product development and engineering positions at Philips Ultrasound.
He grew up in Bangladesh, earned a Bachelor of Science Degree and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of London, King’s College.
Omar currently serves as co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Health and Healthcare Community, which includes global leaders focused on shaping the future of health and healthcare. Key areas of focus for this community include promoting healthy behaviors, better management of future pandemics/epidemics, increasing global access to care, and increasing value in healthcare systems to advance healthcare delivery and improve patient outcomes.
Omar is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Asia Society, the leading educational organization dedicated to promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among peoples, leaders and institutions of Asia and the United States in a global context. He is also a member of the Minnesota Public Radio Board of Trustees.