Philips names Stryker’s Charlotte Hanneman as CFO

Name: Charlotte Hanneman

New title: CFO, Philips

Previous title: Controller and head of financial planning and analysis, Stryker

Philips has named Charlotte Hanneman as its next CFO. Hanneman will succeed Abhijit Bhattacharya in October, suggesting her tenure will overlap with a consent decree prohibiting the company from selling new respiratory devices in the U.S. following its massive sleep apnea and ventilator recall.

Hanneman has worked at medtech and pharma companies for more than 20 years. After holding positions at Merck, Schering-Plough and Organon, Hanneman moved to Stryker and rose to the position of controller and head of financial planning and analysis.

Philips will submit its proposal to hire Hanneman to shareholders in May with a view to her joining the executive committee in June. Bhattacharya will continue as CFO until October to allow Hanneman to complete her induction and transition into the role.

Hanneman will arrive at a company that is still dealing with the fallout of its 2021 recall of more than 15 million sleep apnea devices and ventilators. While Philips has resumed sales in some international territories, a consent decree with the Food and Drug Administration could keep it off the U.S. market for longer than previously expected.

One analyst called the consent decree the “worst case scenario” for the company.

Philips CEO Roy Jakobs said in the Wednesday announcement that it’s “an exciting time for” Hanneman to join the company. Jakobs said the new hire’s “strong medtech and pharma knowledge spanning Europe, Asia and the U.S., as well as her extensive finance experience” is an ideal fit.

The decision to replace Bhattacharya, who first joined Philips in 1987, gives the company another senior leader who gained experience at other organizations. Philips promoted from within when it named Jakobs as CEO in 2022. But the company has also added outside voices, hiring Willem Appelo from Johnson & Johnson in 2022 as its chief operations officer and Steve C de Baca from Cardinal Health in 2023 as chief patient safety and quality officer.

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