Bill George Net Worth 2026: Former Medtronic CEO and Harvard Fellow

No reputable outlet has published an estimate of Bill George's net worth. The earlier version of this page gave $50 million and a $270,000 yearly income, neither with a source, and it also listed him as a footballer. William W. "Bill" George is in fact a businessman and author. He was chief executive of the medical device maker Medtronic from 1991 to 2001 and board chair from 1996 to 2002, then taught at Harvard Business School from 2004 to 2022, according to his official biography. He has sat on the boards of Goldman Sachs, ExxonMobil, Novartis and Target, and with his wife, Penny, founded the George Family Foundation in Minneapolis.

What is Bill George's net worth?

There is no net worth figure for George from Forbes, Bloomberg or Celebrity Net Worth. His wealth comes from more than a decade of pay and stock awards at the top of a large public company, from directors' fees at several major corporations, and from book and speaking income. Past proxy filings would show some of his Medtronic compensation, but no reputable outlet has combined them into an estimate, and much of the family's wealth has gone into philanthropy: a 2014 notice from the foundation said the Georges created it in 1994 to share their net worth through giving.

Bill George yearly earnings and salary

His current income is not published. The income table on the old page ($270,000 a year) had no source and has been removed. Today he earns from his role as an executive education fellow at Harvard Business School, his books and speaking.

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Career timeline

• 1964: graduates from Georgia Tech in industrial and systems engineering with high honors.
• 1966: earns an MBA with high distinction from Harvard, where he is a Baker Scholar.
• Late 1960s: works in the U.S. Department of Defense, as assistant to the assistant secretary of defense (comptroller) and later as special civilian assistant to the secretary of the Navy, per Wikipedia.
• 1969-1978: president of Litton Microwave Cooking Products.
• Before 1989: executive vice president of Honeywell and president of Honeywell Europe.
• 1989: joins Medtronic as president and chief operating officer.
• 1991-2001: CEO of Medtronic; chairman from 1996 to 2002.
• 2002-2003: professor at IMD and EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, and executive-in-residence at Yale.
• 2004-2022: professor of management practice and senior fellow at Harvard Business School; now an executive education fellow.

Medtronic under Bill George

Twin Cities Business reported that Medtronic's revenue grew more than 150% between 1991, when he became CEO, and 1998, and that its stock nearly doubled from 1996 to 1998. When growth slowed, he chose to expand rather than shrink: within about a year the company spent $13 billion on acquisitions, moving from pacemakers and defibrillators into spinal, heart surgery and diabetes devices. The magazine credits him with turning a midsize heart-device maker into one of the world's largest medical technology companies (Twin Cities Business).

Board seats and honors

George has served on the boards of Goldman Sachs, ExxonMobil, Novartis, Target and the Mayo Clinic, and chaired Allina Health System, Abbott Northwestern Hospital, United Way of the Greater Twin Cities and the medtech trade group AdvaMed. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2012, received the Franklin Institute's Bower Award for Business Leadership in 2014, and was named one of PBS's "Top 25 Business Leaders of the Past 25 Years."

Books

He is best known for his writing on "authentic leadership." His books include Authentic Leadership (2003), True North (2007, with Peter Sims), 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis (2009), Discover Your True North (2015) and True North: Emerging Leader Edition (2022, with Zach Clayton).

Recent changes (2025-2026)

• Harvard gift: in April 2025, as Harvard fought the Trump administration over federal funding, the George Family Foundation gave $1 million to the Harvard Kennedy School's Center for Public Leadership, MPR News reported.
• Commentary: he continues to write and speak on leadership, including a February 2026 Harvard Business Review piece and 2026 media interviews on corporate succession.

Early life and family

George was born on September 14, 1942, in Muskegon, Michigan, which makes him 84 in 2026. The story on the old page about parents who were a professor and a schoolteacher, and his claimed height and weight, had no source and have been removed.

Bill George wife

He is married to Penny George, who has served as president of the George Family Foundation. The couple live in Minneapolis, according to his biography.

Education

He holds a B.S. in industrial engineering from Georgia Tech and an MBA from Harvard, plus honorary doctorates from Georgia Tech, Mayo Medical School, the University of St. Thomas, Augsburg College and Bryant University. He did not earn a PhD in education, as the old page claimed.

Net worth compared

For another company builder profiled on this site, see Bill Henniger of Rogue Fitness.

Why there is no reliable figure

George's wealth is spread across decades of executive pay, stock, board fees, books and a family foundation, and no outlet has tallied it. Much of it has been given away. Without a reputable published estimate, this page does not give one.