Masimo (Nasdaq: MASI) announced today that it appointed Katie Szyman as its new CEO, effective Feb. 12, 2025.
Szyman’s appointment comes after a topsy-turvy year for the home health monitoring technology developer. Founder and CEO Joe Kiani resigned after a September shareholder vote that ousted him from the position of board chair following a lengthy proxy battle between Masimo and Politan Capital Management. The company also enacted layoffs at its headquarters at the end of 2024.
The company appointed interim CEO Michelle Brennan to lead from September on. Brennan now becomes chair of Masimo’s board, with lead independent director Quentin Koffey named vice chair. Those changes go into effect on Feb. 12, too.
“We wanted our next CEO to be someone who is passionate about the role and inspiring as well as engaging the team at Masimo – and Katie made clear that she is that person,” Brennan said. “Her advanced patient monitoring category knowledge and deep existing relationships within the industry position her to make an immediate impact as she works with the board on prioritizing our pipeline to focus on large opportunities, while developing a clear strategy for bringing our next-generation patient monitoring platform to market.”
Szyman currently serves as worldwide president of advanced patient monitoring at BD. She previously led the Critical Care business at Edwards Lifesciences before BD acquired the business for $4.2 billion in September.
Masimo said the appointment of Szyman follows “an extensive search process” by the board, aided by executive recruitment firm Korn Ferry.
“The board concluded that Ms. Szyman was the right choice given her successful track record of accelerating revenue growth by bringing new patient monitoring products to market, extensive experience leading and retaining top industry talent, and deep existing relationships within the sector,” Masimo wrote in a statement.
More about new Masimo CEO Katie Szyman
Szyman spent more than a decade leading Edwards Critical Care, accelerating the business’ revenue growth by shifting to AI-driven solutions. (She spoke to MassDevice about those developments in 2020.) Masimo says she led the introduction of the first AI technology cleared by the FDA in the patient monitoring space.
Before Edwards, Szyman spent more than 20 years at Medtronic, holding roles of increasing responsibility in and outside the U.S. That includes leadership posts in corporate strategy, business development and finance and as worldwide president of both Endovascular and Diabetes.
Szyman currently serves on the board of Inari Medical and previously served on the board of Outset Medical.
“I have long admired Masimo as an innovation leader, and I could not be more excited about the opportunity to grow the business and deliver improved outcomes for millions more patients around the world. I believe Masimo’s leadership team and bench of talent is top tier, and I am thrilled by the chance to work with and learn from this group.”
The analysts’ take
BTIG analysts Marie Thibault, Sam Eiber and Alexandra Pang say the appointment of Szyman “fits like a glove” at Masimo.
“We see this as a satisfying conclusion to the search for former CEO Joe Kiani’s successor as [Masimo] transitions back to a pure-play healthcare company,” the analysts wrote. “We are pleased by this announcement as we believe that Ms. Szyman is a strong fit.”
The analysts say they knew Szyman from her time running the Critical Care unit at Edwards before the BD acquisition.
“[We] view her as a forward-thinking and talented executive,” they wrote. “With similar call points inside the hospital and a razor/razorblade business model, we think this transition will be seamless. We look forward to her leadership at [Masimo].”
