CooperCompanies Removes Its CEO and Hands Daily Control to a Former STERIS Chief

CooperCompanies' board replaced chief executive Albert White III on October 27, 2026, and said so plainly: "The Company's recent performance has not met our expectations, and the Board believes decisive action is needed," according to Investing.com. White left the CEO role and the board effective immediately and will stay on as a strategic advisor through April 1, 2027.

The board elected director Walt Rosebrough as executive chair. He will run day-to-day operations until a permanent CEO is named. Russell Reynolds Associates is running the search, overseen by a board committee of Lawrence Kurzius, Cynthia Lucchese and Teresa Madden.

Why the Board Chose an Executive Chair

Rosebrough led STERIS from 2007 to 2021 and brings 40 years in medical devices, 25 of them as a CEO. Putting a former long-serving CEO in an executive chair role gives the company an experienced operator while the search runs, without naming an interim CEO who might expect to keep the job.

[Table 1]

The company reaffirmed the fiscal 2026 guidance it first issued on September 9, a signal that the change is about the longer-term trajectory rather than a new miss.

A Blunt Statement Is Unusual

Most CEO exits come with language about planned transitions or personal decisions. Saying in the release that performance fell short, and naming the search firm and committee on the same day, tells investors the board is taking ownership of the reset. It also sets a clear bar for candidates: the next CEO is being hired to change results, not to maintain them.

[Table 2]

The approach mirrors other recent board-led changes, including Fox Factory's CEO replacement earlier in October, where the board also named a temporary leader who is not a candidate and retained a search firm on day 1. For more on how boards handle these moments, see what Copart's CEO return says about succession planning.