Medline makes, sells and distributes more than half a million different kinds of medical products, including wheelchairs, urine-sample cups, face masks and anesthesia kits. The company makes the ubiquitous striped swaddling blanket that almost every U.S. hospital-born newborn is wrapped in and own brands such as Curad bandages.
The company’s roots trace to 1910 when A.L. Mills, the great-grandfather of CEO Charlie Mills, started making butcher’s aprons for Chicago slaughterhouses. He shifted to surgeon’s gowns and nurses’ uniforms after nuns at a nearby hospital sought his help. His son, Irving, joined the family business—Mills Hospital Supply—and oversaw the company’s expansion into medical textiles.
Irving’s sons James and Jon formed Medline in 1966. The second-generation leadership team of Charlie—son of James, who died in 2019—his cousin Andy, now president, and Andy’s brother-in-law, Jim Abrams, current chief operating officer, were elevated to their roles in 1997.
Massive Windfalls
While the Mills family will still be closely involved in running the business and setting strategy, the deal will be transformational for a family that’s been focused on their operating business for generations and is relatively low-profile and little-known outside of Illinois.
Other families who’ve had massive windfalls, including the Pritzkers, have stepped up their philanthropic activities, become players on the national political scene and plowed money into venture capital and private equity to increase their wealth.
Whatever their plans, the deal will accelerate the need for rigorous planning, according to Samy Dwek, a consultant to high-net worth families at The Family Office Doctor.
“In this case Charlie and Andy may want to consider splitting the assets to ensure smoother transition for each of their respective families,” he said. “They are about to face some hard decisions.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.