Henry Schein has announced that Stanley M Bergman will retire as CEO at the end of the year after 45 years at the company, including more than 35 years as CEO. Bergman will continue to lead Henry Schein in his current role until his retirement and will remain as chairman thereafter. The board is commencing a formal search process in conjunction with a nationally recognised executive search firm and will consider internal and external candidates.
“With the progress made advancing our BOLD+1 strategic plan and with strong management in place, it is the right time for me to retire at the end of the year,” Bergman said. “I look forward to working with the Board to identify my successor and effect a smooth transition. Henry Schein has been my professional home for 45 years and I will conclude this chapter of my life with enormous gratitude for the opportunity to serve as CEO and with great confidence in the company’s future.”
Philip A Laskawy, lead director for Henry Schein said: “Under Stan’s leadership, Henry Schein has become the global leader in providing dental and medical products and solutions for health care providers in alternate care settings, and we recognise the significant impact he has had on the company and the entire health care industry. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Stan for his steadfast devotion to Henry Schein and for bringing his unique blend of strategic vision, attention to detail, and entrepreneurship to the company.”
During Bergman’s tenure as CEO, Henry Schein’s revenue grew from $225m in 1989 to almost $13m in 2024, representing an approximate compound annual growth rate of 17.5%, while the company’s market capitalisation grew from $290m at the time of its IPO in 1995 to a current value of almost $9bn.1 Further, Henry Schein has delivered a non-GAAP EPS CAGR of 12.4% over this same period.2
Among Bergman and the team’s many accomplishments, the company transformed itself multiple times:
- Growing from what was a small, U.S.-based primarily dental mail order company to becoming the largest global full service dental distributor of products and services and a leading medical distributor to alternate care sites with a growing presence in home-delivered products;
- Building what is now the largest provider of global dental practice management software and digital services;
- creating a fast-growing dental specialties business, including the second-largest provider of endodontic products and third-largest provider of dental implant and bone regeneration products;
- Significantly growing the contribution from its higher growth, higher margin businesses and corporate-brand products under its BOLD+1 strategic plan to over 50% of total non-GAAP operating income3; and
- Establishing Henry Schein as a global leader in advancing public-private partnerships to support access to care for underserved individuals, strengthening infrastructure for disaster relief and pandemic preparedness, and elevating the role of oral health as a key part of systemic health and wellness.
“It has been my greatest privilege to lead Team Schein over the past 35-plus years. Guided by our purpose-driven mission, we have built an agile Company that is able to meet the changing needs of our customers, has created significant shareholder value, and is well positioned for the future. As part of succession planning, the Company has focused on developing the next generation of leaders and earlier this year simplified the business by separating into three operating divisions, each with outstanding leadership. I fully expect that Andrea Albertini, CEO of the global distribution group who also has responsibility for the global technology group, and Tom Popeck, CEO of the health care specialties group, together with the rest of the company’s executive management committee, will elevate Henry Schein to new heights by continuing to advance the BOLD+1 strategy and working with KKR on value creation initiatives and a broad-based employee ownership programme,” Bergman said.
