Roy Jakobs has cleared a final hurdle to become Philips’ next CEO, winning shareholder approval during a special meeting today.
The Dutch medtech giant — the fourth-largest in the world according to MassDevice and MDO‘s Big 100 report — announced plans in August for Jakobs to move into the corner office. His appointment is effective October 15.
Jakobs succeeds Frans van Houten, who has been CEO more than 11 years. As CEO, van Houten successfully carved out Philips’ lighting, television, audio and video, and domestic applicants businesses. Along with acquisitions such as the more than $1 billion acquisition of Volcano in 2015, the moves focused Philips on medtech. But as Philips wrestled with a deadly recall that involves more than a million CPAPs, ventilators and other respiratory devices, the company’s supervisory board decided it was time for a change.
“On behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, I would like to thank Frans for successfully leading Philips’ transformation into a focused, global solutions leader in health technology. We are convinced that Roy is the right successor to lead Philips’ efforts to help improve the health and well-being of people globally, and further shape the company for increased value creation for shareholders and all other stakeholders,” Supervisory Board Chair Feike Sijbesma said in a news release today.
More about Philips’ next CEO Roy Jakobs
Jakobs joined Philips in 2010 and moved up over the years to become the company’s Connected Care chief business leader. He’s been a go-to person in the company to manage crises. He took a lead on Philips’ COVID-19 pandemic response in early 2020. He took over the handling of the Philips Respironics recall in June 2021.
The agenda for today’s extraordinary shareholders meeting recommended Jakobs because of “his strong international, operational, and transformational track record.” It said Jakobs has a “deep understanding of Philips, which is critical at this important juncture in the company’s growth journey.” It noted that Jakobs has had success turning around businesses in customer-focused growth organizations. In addition, Jakobs “effectively strengthened the company’s Connected Care portfolio through successful acquisitions across hospital and ambulatory care settings.”
“Philips is a unique company with a strong brand, more than 130 years of innovation power and a bright future as a leader in health technology solutions,” Jakobs said. “I look forward to leading the company in a transparent way, empowering our people as we address the current challenges, while also shaping the next chapter of Philips.”