BRETT WALL
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT, NEUROSCIENCES PORTFOLIO
MEDTRONIC
WHY: Oversees five units—Neuromodulation, Cranial and Spinal Technologies, Neurovascular, Pelvic Health and Ear, Nose and Throat—for one of the world’s largest medical device makers, operating out of the company’s Irvine office. Member of Minneapolis-based firm’s executive committee. Local operations include a heart valve unit in Santa Ana and a large neurovascular division in Irvine. Member of the CEO Leadership Alliance Orange County and on executive committee at Octane.
BY THE NUMBERS: Market valuation topping $115 billion. 2022 revenue of $31.7 billion, up 5% from year prior. Employs about 2,300 in Orange County, units include two of top 12 largest device makers in OC by employee count.
FUTURE PLANS: Invested $75 million in Irvine-based CathWorks last year and has option to acquire cardiac-focused device maker in the next five years at a $585 million valuation. An acquisition of CathWorks would be the largest local buy for Medtronic in over a decade; in 2009 it bought CoreValve Inc., an Irvine heart valve company, for $700 million, plus add-ons.
IN THEIR WORDS: In a Leader Board written for the Business Journal this month, Wall and Skyworks Solutions CEO Liam Griffin said in order to “achieve a sustainable, thriving Orange County for all, local businesses need to work together to make tech talent development a top county priority, and deploy our strategic resources to achieve operational scale.”
