
Incoming Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) CEO Mike Mahoney is nothing if not optimistic about his upcoming tenure at the helm of the med-tech giant.
When he forecasts 10 years into the future he sees Boston Scientific as the "fastest growing medical device company," and he hopes he’s still at the helm, he told MassDevice publisher Brian Johnson at last night’s Big 100 Roundtable East event in Waltham, Mass.
Before an audience of nearly 250 med-tech executives and stakeholders, Mahoney described Boston Scientific as the place he hopes to spend the rest of his career.
Mahoney accepted the position as president and incoming CEO of the device maker in August 2011, a decision that he had a tough time making, Mahoney said.
Although he left behind good friends and a promising career inside the company, Mahoney took a chance to spur change at Boston Scientific.
"Really, the opportunity was too good to pass up," Mahoney said.
The chance to effect a turnaround at a top-tier device maker which hadn’t seen growth in a handful of years was too appealing, so Mahoney left behind an enviable position as the worldwide chairman of medical device and diagnostics group of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), he said.
Mahoney’s set to take the reins at Boston Scientific in November, after about a year as the company’s president under interim CEO Hank Kucheman, who was executive vice president and group president of the cardiology, rhythm and vascular group.
The unusual terms of Mahoney’s move from J&J to – eventually – the corner office at Boston Scientific were driven by J&J’s insistence on enforcing a stringent non-competition agreement.
The deal required that Mahoney’s duties as president don’t involve any business lines that compete with Johnson & Johnson products, which include divisions that accounted for about 57% of BSX’s revenues last year, J.P. Morgan analyst Michael Weinstein told the Wall Street Journal in September.
Once he does take over, Mahoney plans to jump-start growth for the struggling device maker, he told Johnson last night, and he hopes to continue pushing that growth for a long time to come.
"I spend a lot of time thinking about the culture and how we’re going to grow," he said. "I think I can be in this job for a decade or more."