Name: William Brown
New title: CEO, 3M
Previous title: Executive chair of the board of directors, L3Harris Technologies
William Brown has been appointed the next CEO of 3M, effective May 1, the company announced Tuesday. Brown will succeed Michael Roman, who has spent more than 35 years with the company.
Brown is the former CEO and chairman of the board of L3Harris Technologies, an aerospace and defense technology company. He stepped down as CEO in June 2021 and then served as the executive chair of the board through June 2022. Brown was previously CEO and president of the Harris Corporation, which merged with L3 Technologies in 2019, when he took over as CEO of the merged company.
Roman will step down after nearly six years as CEO and more than 35 years with 3M. Roman held multiple roles over that time, including chief operating officer and leadership positions across several business units.
During Roman’s tenure as CEO, 3M agreed to several multi-billion-dollar legal settlements and announced mass layoffs. In August 2023, the company agreed to pay $6 billion to settle more than 250,000 lawsuits brought by members of the U.S. military who alleged they suffered hearing loss after using the company’s combat earplugs. The company also agreed to a $10.3 billion settlement last year over allegations it contaminated public water supplies in the U.S. with PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.”
Meanwhile, in April 2023, 3M said it planned to lay off 6,000 employees, just months after the company announced it would eliminate 2,500 manufacturing positions.
Roman has been appointed executive chairman of 3M’s board of directors effective May 1. 3M said the board of directors waived the mandatory retirement age of 65 for Brown and Roman.
The leadership change comes shortly ahead of 3M’s planned spinoff of its health unit. The new company, called Solventum, is scheduled to launch on April 1.
The soon-to-be company has collected up medtech executives to fill out its leadership team: Bryan Hanson, former Zimmer Biomet CEO, will serve as Solventum’s CEO; Wayde McMillan, former Insulet CFO, will be the new company’s CFO; and Chris Barry, former Nuvasive CEO, will lead its Medical Solutions division.
The board of directors of 3M officially approved the health spinoff late last week.
