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Lanx's Oopsie
We reported on June 9 that Colorado-based Lanx, Inc. had "snagged" former Medtronic COO Michael DeMane as its new CEO and Chairman.
Before the rockets red glare of the Fourth of July could be seen, the company issued a new statement:
Michael DeMane has declined to assume the role of chairman and chief executive officer and will assist the company as a consultant.
Oopsie. We called the company to ask what happened. Our call was not returned.
Premature Announcement
Thomas Lee of Medcitynews.com provided some insight into this bizarre event on July 1. Lee reported that, Peter McNerney, a well known venture capitalist and former partner of DeMane's, had told Lee after the first Lanx announcement that he thought the announcement may have been a bit premature.
It sure looked like a done deal. The original announcement quoted DeMane, who said, “Founders Michael Fulton, Jeffrey Thramann and their team have built a company with a responsive, solutions-oriented culture, while maintaining a high level of ethics and integrity. We expect to continue our commitment to those values in our mission to build a world-class spine company over the long-term.”
Or these comments from the company that stated that Co-Founder and former CEO Michael Fulton would assume the role of Chief Technology Officer, and would continue to guide the company’s innovation and new technology initiatives.
Fulton said at the time, “The Board and I are extremely excited to have an executive of Michael’s industry stature accept this leadership role at Lanx. His decision to join our company is a testament to the innovation and dedication to technology that has driven our growth to date.”
Jeffery Thramann, Co-Founder and former Chairman, said, “Michael DeMane unquestionably has the ability to lead the organization and will be a catalyst for taking Lanx to the next level of growth and expansion.”
Tongues wagged throughout the industry as speculation ran rampant that DeMane discovered new things upon digging into the company or that previous non-compete agreements with Medtronic forced him to reconsider.
None of those seem plausible. Perhaps Lanx just jumped the gun. Since neither Lanx nor DeMane are talking, speculation will continue.
What is known is that this bizarre episode has given the company, which touts its high level of ethics and integrity, some credibility problems with its next public announcement.