Manny Villafana

Dr. Villafana is a serial entrepreneur who never stops dreaming for himself and for others. He was born in the Bronx, of Puerto Rican descent, and came to Minnesota in 1967 to become Medtronic’s first international sales administrator. From there Manny, also known as the “Cardiac Kahuna,” moved forward to design breakthrough technology in the cardiac realm and went on to found many companies to implement these ideas.

In 1971, Dr. Villafana was the founder, chairman and CEO of Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc., now part of Boston Scientific. Through this company he changed cardiac history by introducing the lithium battery into pacemakers. He then went on to found St. Jude Medical in 1976 and introduced the first bi-leaflet mechanical heart valve, which reduced the frequency of blood clots in patients. It still dominates the mechanical valve replacement market. In 2017, St. Jude Medical was acquired by Abbott for $25 billion.

Dr. Villafana has started several other successful companies, and is now developing his newest company, Medical 21, Inc.