Mike Mussallem, who built Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp. into a company worth $57 billion, is retiring as executive chairman, effective at the next shareholder meeting on May 7.
The manufacturer of heart stents expects to appoint Nicholas J. Valeriani, an independent director, to succeed Mussallem as chairman of the board.
Mussallem took over as CEO when Edwards was spun out of Baxter in 2000. Mussallem, who retired as CEO last year, had built the company to more than $6.5 billion in sales this year by providing innovative methods to insert stents into heart valves without open heart surgery.
Shares of Edwards today rose 1.9% to $95.15 and a $57 billion market cap.
