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Beckman Coulter has announced that Scott Garrett has resigned as Chairman, President and CEO of the southern California biomedical testing company. Even though no reason was given for his departure, Garrett’s departure is not surprising. His five year tenure is marked by…..well, nothing in particular. Most in the industry see Beckman Coulter as having tread water for the past few years. Almost one year ago today, an article was printed entitled Where is Beckman Coulter going?
In a move that clearly hints at their long term intentions, the Board appointed Bob Hurley as interim President & CEO. Hurley is the company’s head of human resources & the chairman of Baxter Japan. By trade, he is an HR guy. He also has earned his stripes as a line executive in Asia Pacific for Baxter & then Beckman Coulter. Still, he’s an unlikely candidate to become the permanent CEO of Beckman Coulter. Instead, the company will conduct a search across the industry.
All of this is a blow to Beckman’s proud heritage. The company was once considered a ‘belle of the ball’ following the deal to bring together Beckman Instruments and Coulter in 1998. For the past half decade or so, it seems to have slipped off the radar. Garrett was brought in as the successor to then CEO Jack Wareham. He proceeded to surround himself with executives from his old stomping grounds at Baxter (including Hurley) thus earning the ‘Baxter West’ moniker for the company under his leadership.
No one is sure what the path forward is for Beckman Coulter. Maybe that’s the point…and why the Board felt the timing was right to make a change.
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