Zimmer Biomet Names New President, CEO

Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. has a new leader.

The company has appointed Ivan Tornos as president/CEO and Board of Directors member, effective immediately. Tornos has most recently worked as chief operating officer (COO), a role he has held since early 2021. He replaces President/CEO Bryan Hanson, who has led the company since late 2017 (serving as board chairman since 2021) and has accepted the top job at 3M Health Care.

“It is an honor to be appointed CEO of Zimmer Biomet at a time when our execution is extremely strong and our innovation momentum is at an all-time high,” Tornos said. “I am grateful for Bryan’s leadership in transforming the company and am now looking forward to leading the team and accelerating our ZB strategy to drive continued growth and boldly advance the standard of musculoskeletal care.”
 
Suketu (Suky) Upadhyay, who joined Zimmer Biomet in 2019 as executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO), is expanding his role to also overseeing the company’s global Operations and Supply Chain functions. Additionally, current Lead Independent Director Christopher Begley is now board chairman.
 
Tornos joined Zimmer Biomet in November 2018 as group president, Orthopedics, and a year later was named group president, Global Businesses and the Americas. He was appointed COO in March 2021 with responsibility for overseeing all global businesses at Zimmer Biomet, as well as leading the global operations, clinical and medical education, and global R&D and new product development functions. In this role, he had oversight of the Americas and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions.
 
Before joining Zimmer Biomet, Tornos was worldwide president of the Global Urology, Medical and Critical Care Division of Becton, Dickinson and Company. Earlier, he was with C.R. Bard in positions of increasing responsibility, most recently as president, EMEA. Before joining C.R. Bard, Tornos was vice president and general manager of the Americas Pharmaceutical and Medical/Imaging segments of Covidien International. He also was international vice president, Business Development and Strategy, at Baxter International Inc., and prior to that he spent more than a decade in leadership assignments worldwide with Johnson & Johnson. Tornos currently serves as an independent board member of PHC Holdings Corporation.
 
“Ivan has consistently delivered strong results since joining Zimmer Biomet. His deep expertise in the medtech sector, commercial prowess and proven leadership experience make him the ideal leader for Zimmer Biomet as we move into our next phase of innovation and growth,” Begley stated. “As a board, we are extremely pleased with the strength of the company’s succession planning efforts, the depth of the management team and Ivan’s appointment. On behalf of the entire board, I thank Bryan for his tremendous service to the organization and his role in establishing the company as a leading player in the medtech space.”
 
During his tenure at Zimmer Biomet, Hanson spearheaded the company’s transformation, reshaping the mission, culture, corporate strategy, quality, compliance, operations and market performance. He also successfully orchestrated the spinoff of the company’s Spine and Dental franchises to an independent firm, ZimVie Inc.
 
“The last five and a half years at the helm of Zimmer Biomet have been transformational, not just for the company, but for me, as well,” Hanson said. “I have the utmost confidence in Ivan, the entire ZB team and the strength of the business. I cannot think of a better leader to continue to move the ZB mission forward and deliver value for patients, customers and shareholders.”
 
Zimmer Biomet is a global medical technology firm with products and suite of integrated digital and robotic technologies that leverage data, data analytics and artificial intelligence.