Mr. Immelt said, “I have long been inspired by founder-led companies and their ability to outperform and out-innovate peers. In this regard, I have great respect for all that athenahealth has accomplished and its passionate culture, which has been such an important contributor to the Company’s success. athenahealth has great potential to drive the next wave of disruptive change across the healthcare industry, particularly among medical practices, hospitals, and health systems that are challenged by administrative burden and data silos. I look forward to lending my perspectives and expertise to support Jonathan, the Board and the athenahealth team in athenahealth’s own journey to grow and scale.”

Mr. Immelt’s appointment as independent chairman is part of a series of strategic initiatives that athenahealth launched in 2017 to create a more focused and efficient company, drive increased levels of profitable growth, and enhance shareholder value. As part of these initiatives, the Company has added new expertise to its leadership team, including the appointment of a new chief financial officer and a new independent director. The Company expects the operating initiatives will generate $100 million to $115 million of gross pre-tax expense savings and significant margin improvement. With the addition of Mr. Immelt, the athenahealth Board has been expanded to 11 members, including nine independent directors.


Mr. Immelt will make a financial investment in athenahealth, and plans to purchase approximately $1 million of athenahealth common stock in the open market.

Mr. Immelt was the 9th Chairman of GE, a position he held for 16 years. During that time, he focused on growth and creating new disruptive technologies. GE became a leader in globalization, services and diversity. At the same time, he led GE through several large cost-reduction programs, focusing on margin improvements. During Mr. Immelt’s tenure, Industrial earnings doubled and GE returned $143 billion in dividends, more than in the cumulative history of the company.

Mr. Immelt was one of the first CEOs to recognize that great industrial companies must be digital leaders, and that the combination of physical performance and analytical data can predict outcomes in industrial products. Under Mr. Immelt, GE built a digital industrial platform, Predix, with $1 billion in annual orders.

Mr. Immelt earned a B.A. degree in applied mathematics from Dartmouth College in 1978 and an M.B.A. from Harvard University in 1982.

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