Welcome to Stryker's annual meeting of shareholders. The meeting is being recorded. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that the discussion during the meeting will include forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are discussed in the company's most recent filings with SEC. The discussion will include certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in the slide for the meeting posted on stryker.com. Now I'll turn the meeting over to Mr. Kevin Lobo, Chair and Chief Executive Officer.
Good afternoon. On behalf of Stryker's Board of Directors, welcome to the 47th annual meeting of shareholders. I have the honor to serve as the Chair and CEO of Stryker. Tina French, Vice President, Corporate Secretary, is also participating in this meeting, and Jenny Braga, Senior Director, External Affairs, will assist with Q&A. That I can officially call the meeting to order, I'll ask Tina to establish that this meeting has been duly called and that a quorum is present.
Thank you, Kevin, and good afternoon. I have an affidavit related to the mailing of the notice of the meeting and proxy materials on March 23rd, 2006 to all shareholders of record as of March 9th, 2026, the record date fixed by the Board of Directors. A certified list of the shareholders of record of the company as of March 9th, 2026, and the minutes of the 2025 annual meeting of shareholders are available for inspection by any shareholder upon request. Bill Berry, Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer, has been appointed to serve as Inspector of Election. Based on the proxies received, the inspector has reported to me that a majority of the 382,984,253 shares of common stock entitled to vote are represented at the meeting either in person or by proxy.
A quorum of common stock is therefore present, and the meeting may proceed.
Thank you, Tina. On the basis of the secretary's report, this meeting is duly constituted. I would like to start by recognizing two iconic individuals who embody and help shape Stryker's rich culture and history of performance. John Brown, our Chairman Emeritus, led the company for over three decades, and his imprint is still very visible in our company today. Director Emeritus Howard Cox devoted over 44 years of service as a director and made significant contributions to the company's growth and success during his tenure. They are both great ambassadors of Stryker, and I am fortunate to continue to connect with them and benefit from their wisdom. Next are the individuals who serve as directors of the company and stand for re-election. They are in attendance today online.
Starting at the top of the photo from left to right, Sheri McCoy is former CEO of Avon Products and also former Vice Chair of Johnson & Johnson. She is our lead independent Director. Mary Brainerd is former President and CEO of HealthPartners, a large U.S. healthcare organization. Mary chairs our governance and nominating committee. Giovanni Caforio is Chair and Board of the Novartis AG and former Chair and CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb. Giovanni chairs our compensation and human capital committee. Manny Maceda is the Chair and former CEO and worldwide Managing Partner of Bain & Company. Rachel Ruggeri is former Chief Financial Officer of Starbucks Corporation. Andy Silvernail is CEO of International Paper and former Chair and CEO of IDEX Corporation. Andy chairs our audit committee.
Lisa Skeete Tatum is founder and CEO of Landit, Inc., a technology platform created to increase the success and engagement of women and diverse groups in the workplace. Ronda Stryker serves on the boards of Greenleaf Trust and Spelman College. She is the granddaughter of Dr. Homer Stryker, the founder of the company, and daughter of Lee Stryker, a former president of the company. Rajeev Suri is Chair of Digicel Group, a leading digital provider across the Caribbean and Central America, and former CEO of Inmarsat, a British satellite telecommunications company. I will now move to our executive leadership team.
Joining me on the leadership team are Dylan Crotty, Group President of Orthopaedics, Katy Fink, Chief Human Resources Officer, Rob Fletcher, Chief Legal Officer, Debra King, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Viju Menon, Group President, Global Quality and Operations, Kim Montagnino, Chief Communications Officer, Andy Pierce, Group President of our MedSurg and Neurotechnology businesses, Spencer Stiles, President and Chief Operating Officer, Preston Wells, Chief Financial Officer. We are very fortunate to have such a talented and experienced leadership team that lives our mission and values every day. I want to recognize our other corporate officers who are pictured on this slide. This year, Nick Mead was appointed Vice President, Investor Relations, to replace Jason Beach, who has moved to another role within Stryker. Noted on this slide is our independent accounting firm, Ernst & Young, represented by Jay Preston.
Tina will now introduce the proposals included in the proxy statement.
Thank you, Kevin. There are three proposals included in the proxy statement. Any shareholder of record who is logged in as such on the meeting website may vote online. If you have previously granted a proxy, your vote today will automatically revoke your proxy. Voting will be tabulated after the proposals have been presented. If any shareholder would like to ask a question related to a specific proposal, please submit your question on the meeting website. General questions will be addressed later in the meeting. The first proposal is the election of 10 directors. The nominees for election as directors are Mary Brainerd, Giovanni Caforio, Kevin Lobo, Manny Maceda, Sheri McCoy, Rachel Ruggeri, Andy Silvernail, Lisa Skeete Tatum, Ronda Stryker, and Rajeev Suri. There have been no other nominations during the designated nominating period, and in accordance with our bylaws, the nominations are now closed.
The second proposal to come before the meeting is ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2026. Under SEC rules, the responsibility for the appointment and oversight of the company's auditors resides with the audit committee. However, today we continue our practice of asking shareholders to ratify this appointment. The third proposal to come before the meeting is an advisory vote to approve the compensation of the company's named executive officers as disclosed in detail in the proxy statement under ompensation discussion and analysis and executive compensation. Our corporate bylaws do not require motions and seconds. All of the proposals on the agenda are now before the meeting. As previously mentioned, any shareholder of record who is logged in as such on the meeting website may vote online.
If you have previously granted a proxy, your vote today will automatically revoke your proxy. Jenny, do we have any questions on the proposals?
We have no questions on the voting items.
Thank you, Jenny. Voting is currently open on the meeting website. Voting has been open on the meeting website since the meeting commenced. We are currently allowing additional time for any shareholder wishing to vote at this time. After voting ends and we close the polls, the inspector will complete the vote count, and we will announce the preliminary results later in the meeting. While the inspector is completing the vote count, Kevin will share a review of Stryker's performance and future outlook. We are continuing to hold to allow additional time for any shareholder wishing to vote at this time. Voting is now ended, and we will close the polls. Kevin, please go ahead.
Turning to a brief business update, I always like to start every presentation with our mission and values. The mission is the unifying reason why we come to work each and every day, and the values are what we expect of each other. Turning to our sales chart since becoming a public company, you can see that Stryker is a growth company. After crossing $20 billion in sales in 2023, we surpassed $25 billion in 2025, with yet another year of double-digit organic sales growth. Turning to the pie chart of our businesses, this reflects the inclusion of peripheral vascular with Neurovascular in the vascular wedge, and also the creation of the Ortho Tech division, which merges the orthopedic instruments business with Mako and Enabling Technologies. We are category leaders across all of these pie wedges.
Turning to a few examples of our latest innovations, you can see some of them pictured here. Innovation is the lifeblood of our company, and we continue to launch a steady stream of new products across the company. Turning to M&A, you can see that we have been very active on the acquisition front over the past 10 years. You can see the Inari acquisition noted in 2025 was a large acquisition, getting us into the peripheral vascular space. We just announced this year, not yet pictured on the slide, the pending acquisition of Amplitude Vascular Systems, which will further bolster our presence in the peripheral vascular market. We're also making a great difference in the communities which we live and work, both for a healthier planet as well as giving and volunteering.
We continue to garner many awards as a great place to work around the world and with diverse populations. The most important item on this chart is the patient impact, where our products and services impact over 150 million people each and every year. With that, I'll turn the microphone back to Tina, who will report on the preliminary voting results.
Thank you, Kevin. I am advised by the Inspector of Election that each of the persons nominated for director in proposal 1 has been duly elected a director of the company. I am also advised by the Inspector of Election that the shares representing a majority of the total votes cast on proposal 2 were voted for ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as independent registered public accounting firm for 2026. I am also advised by the Inspector of Election that the advisory vote on the resolution related to the company's named executive officer comp. The final results of the meeting will be filed on Form 8-K with the SEC shortly. The meeting is now adjourned. General questions will now be addressed. They will be grouped by topic and answered as time permits.
Answers to questions not addressed that are pertinent to Stryker and the meeting matters will be published following the meeting on our website.
Thank you, Tina.
Kevin, back to you.
Thank you, Tina. Jenny, would you please read the first question?
Yes. What is Stryker's five-year growth strategy, and how will it drive continued shareholder value?
As you recall, the chart that I showed shows Stryker's growth trajectory. We have grown the past four years around double-digit organic sales growth. Our growth formula really is unchanged. It's driven by both innovations as well as acquisitions, and that feeds our various diversified business units in a decentralized model to drive high growth. It is a formula that's served our company well for a long period of time. We don't anticipate our growth trajectory changing. We expect 2026 to be another strong year, as we confirmed our guidance when we announced our Q1 earnings. Expect more of the same from Stryker for the next five years.
Thank you, Kevin. We have no additional questions.
Thank you, Jenny, and thank you all for joining us today. I would like to take a moment to thank our employees for their efforts in delivering another strong year of innovation and excellent service to our customers. The Stryker brand is getting stronger as we work to deliver on our mission and values. I'd also like to thank our customers whose dedication to patient care continues to inspire our work and whose collaboration keeps us innovating to make healthcare better. We are well-positioned for a strong 2026 and beyond. Thank you for your continued support of Stryker.
The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.