athenahealth announced this morning that founder Jonathan Bush is stepping down as CEO, effectively immediately. The Board of Directors has initiated a process to explore strategic alternatives and will consider a sale, merger or other transaction involving the Company as well as continuing as an independent company. In addition, the Board has also initiated a search process to identify qualified CEO candidates.
Jeff Immelt, Chairman of athenahealth, has been appointed Executive Chairman, Marc Levine, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer, will assume greater day-to-day operational responsibilities and oversight, and current Board member Amy Abernethy, M.D., Ph.D., will be advising the Executive Leadership Team on data strategy within her role as a director.
athenahealth is currently fighting an acquisition takeover from Elliott Management to acquire the Company for $160 per share in cash that could be worth about $7 billion, including debt. The announcement also comes after new allegations of questionable behavior emerged in the past week alleging that he subjected a female employee to what she described as a “sexually hostile environment.”
“On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Jonathan for guiding athenahealth to this point and for building an incredible team, which is deeply focused on our clients and on driving disruptive, positive change across the healthcare industry. The Board and Jonathan agree that this change in leadership is appropriate as athenahealth turns to its next chapter,” said Jeff Immelt
