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Scott Ward heads an $8.1 billion business unit with 5,000 employees that makes up 18 percent of annual sales at Fridley-based Medtronic Inc.
But you'd be hard-pressed to know it based on the low profile he's kept in the Twin Cities and the humble way that he lives, his friends say
On a recent trip to Chicago to review some research, Ward "didn't act like he was the head of a big company and push people around," said Dr. Richard Penn, professor of neurosurgery at the University of Chicago, who has known Ward for 20 years.
"He didn't have a private car chauffeur him around. He just doesn't care about those types of things. He doesn't care about the trappings of power," Penn said.
Indeed Ward has a lot of power at Medtronic. As president of Medtronic Inc.'s Neurological and Diabetes division, he oversees one of the fastest-growing divisions at the medical technology giant. He's one of five division heads who report directly to Art Collins, chairman...