Medtronic plc is an Irish medical device company. The company's legal and executive headquarters are in Ireland, while its operational headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Medtronic rebased to Ireland following its acquisition of Irish-based Covidien in 2015. While it primarily operates in the United States, it operates in more than 150 countries and employs over 90,000 people. It develops and manufactures healthcare technologies and therapies. It is one of the biggest medical tech companies in the world and is currently the largest medical device company in the world by revenue.
The company has developed several world-first technologies since its inception, including wearable and implantable pacemakers, the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), and remote patient monitoring systems. They also created miniaturized devices like the world's smallest pacemaker and spinal cord stimulator.
History
Foundation and early years Medtronic was founded in 1949 in Minneapolis by Earl Bakken and his brother-in-law, Palmer Hermundslie, as a medical equipment repair shop. Bakken invented several medical technology devices that continue to be used around the world today.
Through his repair business, Bakken came to know C. Walton Lillehei, a doctor of heart surgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School. The deficiencies of artificial pacemakers at the time became evident during a power outage over Halloween in 1957, which affected large sections of Minnesota and western Wisconsin. A pacemaker-dependent paediatric patient of Lillehei died because of the blackout. The next day, Lillehei spoke with Bakken about developing some form of battery-powered pacemaker. Bakken modified the design for a transistorized metronome and created the first battery-powered external pacemaker. It fit in a four-inch-square box that could be taped to a patient's chest, transmitted electrical signals to the heart through wires that passed through the patient's chest, and could be removed without surgery.
The company expanded through the 1950s, both selling equipment built by other companies and developing custom-made devices. Bakken built a small pacemaker that could be strapped to the body and powered by batteries. Work in the new field later produced an implantable pacemaker in 1960. The company built its headquarters in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Anthony, Minnesota, in 1960,Sam Black, Old Medtronic headquarters is sold to Islamic group, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, 6 September 2012, accessed 14 March 2013. and moved to Fridley in the 1970s. Medtronic's main competitors in the cardiac rhythm field include Boston Scientific and St. Jude Medical.
Growth and expansion In 1997, Medtronic opened a production site for implantable pacemakers and brain pacemakers in Tolochenaz, Switzerland. One in five pacemakers implanted globally today is made here. The site is also used as a European training centre for doctors.
In 1998, Medtronic acquired Physio-Control for $538 million.
In 2014, Integra LifeSciences announced it was acquiring instrumentation lines from Medtronic for $60 million. The deal included Medtronic's MicroFrance and Xomed manual ear, nose and throat and laparoscopic surgical instruments, as well as a manufacturing facility in France.
In February 2016, the company announced that it would acquire Bellco from private equity firm Charme Capital Partners. In June, the company announced its acquisition of HeartWare International Inc. for $1.1 billion. In December 2017, Medtronic acquired Crospon for €38 million (approximately $45 million). In September 2018, the company acquired Mazor Robotics for $1.64 billion ($58.50 per American Depository Share or $29.25 per ordinary share. In late November, Medtronic acquired Nutrino Health Ltd boosting the company's nutrition-related data services and analytics.
In March 2017, Bloomberg's database of U.S. tax inversions listed Medtronic and Wright Medical Group (Medtronic's 2015 inversion to Ireland was over $100 billion, while Wright's 2015 inversion to the Netherlands was $3.3 billion) as the only U.S. tax inversions of a U.S. medical device company in history. In February 2018, the Wall Street Journal listed Medtronic's 2015 tax inversion to Ireland as the largest U.S. corporate tax inversion executed between 2013 and 2016. In May 2018, Medtronic was ranked as the largest corporate tax inversion in history.
In May 2018, Medtronic was ranked as the world's largest medical device company by 2017 revenues (see table below).
In May 2019, Medtronic announced it would acquire Titan Spine, a technology company focusing on titanium spine implants. Chief Executive Officer Omar Ishrak retired in April 2020 and stayed on as executive chairman and chairman of the board until December 2020. Ishrak was succeeded by senior executive Geoff Martha.
In January 2020, the company announced its intention to acquire Stimgenics, LLC and its primary therapy: differential target, multiplexed, spinal cord stimulation. In July, the company announced it would acquire Medicrea for €7.00 per share. In August, Medtronic announced it would acquire Companion Medical, who manufacture a smart insulin pen system, which connects to a diabetes management app. In September Medtronic acquired Avenu Medical for an undisclosed sum.
In February 2021, the company recalled its HeartWare Ventricular Assist Device. In June 2021, the controller ports were pulled from the market. On 3 June 2021, the FDA alerted physicians to stop new implants of the HVAD system due to "an increased risk of neurological adverse events and mortality associated with the internal pump."
In November 2021, the company was added to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.
In January 2022, the business announced it would acquire Affera, Inc. In March, Medtronic announced a contract with Vizient, a healthcare performance improvement company, to add Medtronic's Touch Surgery Enterprise platform to Vizient's healthcare offerings. Touch Surgery works with laparoscopic and robotic scopes and is an AI-powered video management and analytics platform for the operating room. In May, Medtronic and DaVita Inc. announced plans to form a new, independent kidney care-focused medical device company. Medtronic's Renal Care Solutions business will be part of the new company.
In April 2022, the company announced a collaboration with GE Healthcare to support the needs and care demands at Ambulatory Surgery Centers. In July, Medtronic announced a strategic partnership with CathWorks, a coronary artery disease (CAD) technology developer. A separate agreement gave Medtronic the option to acquire CathWorks in the future.
In October 2022, the company announced its intention to pursue a separation of the company's combined Patient Monitoring and Respiratory Interventions businesses, which are part of the company's Medical Surgical Portfolio.
In February 2024, the company announced that it had reversed its decision to spin off or sell the Patient Monitoring and Respiratory Interventions businesses, and would instead combine them into a new business unit called Acute Care & Monitoring. They also announced that they would discontinue the ventilator product line, citing its unprofitability.
In 2025, Medtronic was included in Forbes lists of America's Best Large Employers.
In March 2026, Medtronic separated its diabetes business into MiniMed Group, Inc., which completed an initial public offering on March 9. Medtronic retained approximately 89.86% of MiniMed following the offering, while MiniMed became a separately publicly traded company on the Nasdaq.
In September 2026, Medtronic launched an exchange offer as part of its planned separation of MiniMed. The offer covers up to 225,361,295 newly issued MiniMed common shares in exchange for Medtronic ordinary shares, representing approximately 80.1% of MiniMed's outstanding shares. If the exchange offer is oversubscribed, Medtronic intends to exchange additional shares of MiniMed representing its remaining interest, which would result in MiniMed becoming independent of Medtronic.The exchange offer is scheduled to expire on October 9, 2026, unless extended or terminated.
Acquisition history
Medtronic Medtronic plc Medtronic Inc. (Founded 1949) Ardian Inc (Acq 2010) Osteotech Inc (Acq 2010) ATS Medical (Acq 2010) Krauth Cardiovascular (Acq 2010) Fogazzi (Acq 2010) Invatec (Acq 2010) PEAK Surgical, Inc< (Acq 2011) Salient Surgical Technologies Inc (Acq 2011) China Kanghui Holdings (Acq 2012) NGC Medical (Acq 2014) Sapiens Steering Brain Stimulation (Acq 2014) TYRX Inc (Acq 2014) Covidien (Formed 2007 from Tyco International healthcare business spin off) Sapheon Inc (Acq 2014) Reverse Medical Corporation (Acq 2014) Given Imaging (Acq 2014) Aspect Medical Systems (Acq 2009) Somanetics Corp (Acq 2010) ev3 Inc (Acq 2010) CV Ingenuity (Acq 2012) BÂRRX (Acq 2012) Newport Medical Instruments (Acq 2012) superDimension (Acq 2012) Oridion Systems (Acq 2012) VNUS Medical Technologies Zephyr Technology (Acq 2014) Advanced Uro-Solutions (Acq 2015) Diabeter (Acq 2015) CardioInsight Technologies (Acq 2015) Aptus Endosystems (Acq 2015) RF Surgical Systems (Acq 2015) Medina Medical (Acq 2015) Lazarus Effect (Acq 2015) Bellco (Acq 2016) HeartWare International Inc (Acq 2016) Crospon (Acq 2017) Mazor Robotics (Acq 2018) Nutrino Health Ltd (Acq 2018) Titan Spine (Acq 2019) Klue (Acq 2019) Stimgenics, LLC (Acq 2020) Medicrea (Acq 2020) Companion Medical (Acq 2020) Avenu Medical (Acq 2020) Intersect ENT (Acq 2022) Digital Surgery (Acq 2020) Affera, Inc. (Acq 2022)
Business units and subsidiaries Medtronic has four main business units: the Minimally Invasive Therapies Group, the Diabetes Group, the Restorative Therapies Group, and the Cardiac and Vascular Group. Medtronic develops and manufactures devices and therapies to treat more than 30 chronic diseases, including heart failure, Parkinson disease, urinary incontinence, Down syndrome, obesity, chronic pain, spinal disorders and diabetes.
Acute care and monitoring Acute care and monitoring (ACM) is based out of Lafayette, Colorado and produces non-invasive sensors and monitoring products, used for patient monitoring in the hospital and home settings. It has absorbed the portfolios of acquired companies, including Covidien, Nellcor, Somanetics, Aspect Medical Systems, Oridion Medical and Zephyr Technology. This business unit produces pulse oximetry, capnography, and bispectral index sensors, patient monitors, remote patient monitoring software, and electronic medical record connectivity software.
Cardiac rhythm disease management Cardiac rhythm disease management (CRDM) is the oldest and largest of Medtronic's business units. Its work in heart rhythm therapies dates back to 1957 when Bakken developed the first wearable heart pacemaker to treat abnormally slow heart rates. Since then, it has expanded its expertise in electrical stimulation to treat other cardiac rhythm diseases. It has also made an effort to address overall disease management by adding diagnostic and monitoring capabilities to many of its devices. An independently-operating Dutch pacemaker manufacturer, Vitatron, acquired by Medtronic in 1986, is now a European subsidiary of the unit. Medtronic and Vitatron pacemakers are interrogated and programmed by Medtronic Carelink Model 2090 Programmer for Medtronic and Vitatron Devices; they use separate interfaces.