Tandem Diabetes Names Jeannette Bankes CEO, Succeeding Sheridan
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Tandem Diabetes Care has picked Jeannette Bankes, a GE HealthCare executive, as its next president and CEO. She starts on November 16 and also joins the board, taking over from John Sheridan, who retires at the end of 2026.
A planned handover
Tandem describes the change as a planned leadership transition, reached through a board-led succession and search. Sheridan stays on as an employee through the end of the year. After that he becomes a consultant to support the transition.
He has run the company since 2019, after joining in 2013 as chief operating officer. On his watch Tandem brought out a line of automated insulin delivery products, built up its ability to operate globally and started business model changes meant to simplify access to its technology.
Who Bankes is
Bankes has more than 30 years of global operating experience. Most recently she was president and CEO of GE HealthCare's Patient Care Solutions segment, a $3.1 billion segment with four product areas: monitoring, cardiology diagnostics, maternal infant care and anesthesia. Before that she was senior vice president and president of global franchises at Alcon.
Her career also includes time at Merck and Boston Scientific. Her senior roles ranged from product management and marketing to manufacturing, with sales, medical affairs, operations and clinical and regulatory strategy in between. She holds a bachelor's degree in medical technology from Kutztown University.
The inducement award
The board approved an inducement award of restricted stock units capped at $10 million in value. The share count will be set from the average closing price over the 15 trading days that end five trading days before the grant date, December 15, 2026. One-third vests on the first anniversary of that date. The remaining two-thirds vest in eight equal quarterly installments.
The grant sits outside Tandem's regular equity plan. The company says it is meant in part to make up for unvested equity awards Bankes gave up when she left her previous employer. More detail is due in the proxy statement for the 2027 annual meeting.
What both sides say
Board chair Beckie Robertson thanked Sheridan and said, "Jeannette is the right CEO to build on this foundation." Bankes pointed to the company's mission, portfolio and global reach. She said she wants to advance the innovation pipeline and expand access to the technology.
Sheridan said half a million people worldwide benefit from Tandem's technology. The company's pump lineup includes the Tandem Mobi system and the t:slim X2, both with Control-IQ+ hybrid closed-loop technology. Its stated priorities are the technology roadmap, broader access and profitable growth.
Source: Tandem Diabetes Care