Medtronic CEOs, New and Old, Make News

(Updated below.) The death of Apple CEO Steve Jobs has highlighted the role of the CEO in American business this week. Two men who have held that job at Fridley-based Medtronic have been making their own, less somber headlines.

Hawkins
Bill Hawkins, who led Fridley-based Medtronic from 2007 until his retirement earlier this year, is back—back leading an Atlanta-based company, that is.

Hawkins is the new CEO of Immucor, a company in the blood screening and equipment business, MedCity News reports. Before coming to Fridley to head Medtronic, Hawkins was CEO at another Atlanta medtech company, Novoste.

Ishrak
Meanwhile, Hawkins' replacement at the helm of Medtronic, Omar Ishrak, has been in the business-media spotlight, with interviews with Forbes (see video) and the Financial Times, as well as giving an address at an medtech industry conference in Cleveland.

Update (7 a.m., Friday): Medtronic security staff reported a phone call on Sept. 29 that threatened Ishrak's life, according to Fridley police. Lt. Mike Monsrud said police are not taking action, as Medtronic's security department is following up on the case and only wanted to file a police report about the incident.