After spending the better part of the last three decades at Johnson & Johnson, Ashley McEvoy, worldwide chairman of its medtech franchises, will be charting a new course.
McEvoy informed J&J late last week of her plans to leave, according to an announcement published by the company Monday afternoon. She’ll stay on at J&J MedTech into the first quarter of next year to ensure that her successor’s transition into the role is a smooth one—and she hasn’t yet publicly shared the details of the “new opportunities” she’ll soon be pursuing.
Filling her shoes at the top of the $27 billion medtech business will be Tim Schmid, another three-decade veteran of J&J and most recently the company group chairman of the medtech division’s Asia-Pacific business.
“I want to thank Ashley for her leadership and 27 years of service at Johnson & Johnson. She has led significant transformation of our MedTech business resulting in improved performance and allowing us to better meet the needs of patients and consumers around the world,” J&J CEO Joaquin Duato said in the announcement. “Her leadership of people and commitment to their development has been a hallmark of her tenure. I wish her all the best in the next chapter of her career.”
McEvoy joined J&J in 1996 and spent the first 10 years of her tenure in the consumer health division, including a stint as president of what was then known as McNeil Consumer Healthcare. She transferred to the medical devices department in 2009 to become worldwide president of the surgical technology subsidiary Ethicon before being named company group chairman of vision and diabetes care in early 2012.
She took on her current role at the helm of J&J MedTech in June 2018, and, last year, she joined the ranks of J&J’s highest-paid executives, as her nearly $7.4 million 2022 payout earned her a spot on the company’s annual disclosure of its five top-paid execs.
In a LinkedIn post Monday, McEvoy lauded her time at J&J, and particularly her final role leading the medtech team, as “the honor and privilege of my career.”
“Stepping back, it’s impossible to overstate how important this company has been to me and how grateful I am for my career here. I can still remember when I started at J&J at age 26 as an assistant product director on Tylenol,” McEvoy said.
“In the time since, I’ve had the career of a lifetime, leading five companies within J&J and raising five children along the way,” she wrote. “I’ve always taken on new challenges, driven by curiosity, a deep and lifelong passion for healthcare and making it possible for people to lead better lives—and this company has allowed me to do that beyond my greatest imagination.”
“I’m excited to continue to pursue that passion and for what the next chapter will bring. But for now, I want to take a moment to say thank you to my team—for your hard work, talent, and for your unwavering commitment to transforming the future of healthcare.”
McEvoy’s post also shouted out Schmid: “Tim is more than just my successor, he is a trusted friend and partner,” she wrote. “When I had my fourth child, Tim ran the business while I was on leave, and when I went to run Vision, he backfilled my role as Worldwide President of Ethicon, so it’s both fitting and meaningful that I am passing the baton to him now.”
Schmid joined J&J in 1993 through its sales department. He spent more than a decade in its since-divested LifeScan blood glucose monitoring business before moving to Ethicon in 2009. He was named chief strategic customer officer of the medtech division in 2016, a role he held for nearly three years before being tapped to lead the division’s Asia-Pacific operations in late 2018.