McMillan’s departure goes into effect on Oct. 20, 2023. He intends to join 3M as CFO of its Health Care business, which the company expects to spin off late this year or early next year.
President and CEO Jim Hollingshead called McMillan “a trusted partner and an excellent leader” of the company’s global finance team. He said McMillan helped to advance Insulet’s mission of improving the lives of people with diabetes.
“Wayde has helped make our company stronger and more resilient, ensuring we have the capabilities and financial strength to capitalize on the tremendous long-term growth opportunities Insulet is pursuing,” Hollingshead said in a news release. “On behalf of the board and our entire team, I thank Wayde for his many contributions and wish him well in his future endeavors.”
McMillan called it an honor to work at Insulet alongside a talented team and deliver on the company’s mission. He cited pride in the company’s accomplishments in his four-and-a-half years there.
Before joining Insulet as EVP, CFO and treasurer in March 2019, McMillan spent four years at medtech giant Medtronic. From January 2015 to February 2019, he served as CFO and VP of finance for Medtronic’s Minimally Invasive Therapies Group.
“This was a difficult personal decision for me, but also an opportunity to take on new challenges at a large medical device company at a unique time in its evolution,” McMillan said. “I am confident that Insulet is extremely well positioned to continue driving growth, profitability, and value creation, and I look forward to watching the Company’s continued success.”
Insulet picks interim successor with search underway for permanent replacement
Insulet chose Lauren Budden, group VP, chief accounting officer and controller, to take over in an interim capacity. She takes on the additional responsibilities of interim CFO and treasurer until the company selects a permanent successor.
Budden joined Insulet as VP, chief accounting officer and controller in April 2019 with more than 25 years of finance and accounting experience. She became group VP, chief accounting officer and controller in March 2022. Prior to Insulet, she served as VP and chief accounting officer at Gulf Oil. Other positions included roles of increasing responsibility at Medtronic and Covidien (eventually acquired by Medtronic).
The company said it already initiated a search process to identify McMillan’s permanent successor as Budden takes the added responsibilities.
“We are fortunate to have someone of Lauren’s caliber step into the role of Interim CFO,” Hollingshead said. “Lauren is highly regarded throughout our company and has extensive knowledge of our financials and global operations. We are confident that Lauren, with the support of our experienced finance team, is well equipped to support the continued execution of our strategic priorities.”
What the analysts had to say
Insulet also reaffirmed its previously announced guidance despite McMillan’s departure. BTIG analysts Marie Thibault and Sam Eiber wrote in a report that they are making no changes to their estimates with the news. They reaffirmed their “Buy” rating for the company. Insulet reports its third-quarter results on Nov. 2.
“Mr. McMillan was a highly-regarded executive during his time at Insulet, and we wish him well in his new role,” the analysts said.
William Blair’s Margaret Kaczor and Macauley Kilbane noted their surprise by the announcement. They said McMillan emphasized in conversations with them that new 3M Health Care CEO Bryan Hanson (formerly of Zimmer Biomet) approached him about the opportunity. The two worked together at Covidien in the past and McMillan said he wasn’t actively pursuing another role.
The analysts said McMillan felt the decision to leave was difficult with Insulet’s position and outlook remaining strong, too.
“While McMillan was a well-respected management member during whose tenure Insulet experienced significant growth and margin expansion, we believe McMillan’s history with Hanson and the opportunity to be a large-cap CFO in a spin-off situation (one that he had experience with previously at Covidien) represented an interesting opportunity,” the analysts wrote. “We remain confident that Insulet is approaching the onset of the steep part of the adoption curve and see revenue growth over 20% into the second part of the decade with annual operating margin expansion.”
