--- title: "William Petty, Exactech’s founder" language: en canonical: https://dossiertwist.com/dossiers/exactech/people/william-petty/ as_of: 2026-10-16 keywords: ["Exactech","TPG","Osteon Holdings","TPG VII Osteon Holdings","Advita Ortho","Exactech Settlement Trust","polyethylene recall","Connexion GXL","Optetrak","Truliant","Equinoxe","vacuum bag packaging","EVOH","MDL No. 3044","Hospital for Special Surgery","Chapter 11","False Claims Act","Strategic Value Partners","William Petty","Jeffrey Binder"] --- # William Petty, Exactech’s founder - Also known as: Bill Petty · R. William Petty · Roy William Petty **Question.** What roles did William Petty hold at Exactech, what did he own and receive, and in which proceedings is he named? **Answer.** Dr. William Petty, an orthopaedic surgeon and University of Florida professor, founded Exactech in 1985 with Gary Miller and his wife Betty Petty, chaired it from the start and was chief executive until 2014. With his wife he beneficially owned 29.5% in 2010 and 24.3% at the 2018 merger, rolled part of his holding into the TPG buyer and stayed on as co-executive chairman until January 2020. He is a defendant in The Arbitrage Fund's suit over the sale, was named in Florida product-liability suits that were closed on the bankruptcy, and is a defendant in the Settlement Trust's pending Chancery suit. ## Founder, chairman and chief executive - Analysis: William Petty, M.D. founded Exactech and was its chairman and chief executive from inception, while a professor at the University of Florida College of Medicine from July 1975 and chair of its orthopaedic surgery department from 1981 to 1996. He remained chairman, was chief executive until 2014 and president from 2002 to 2007; the proxy describes him as Betty Petty's husband and David Petty's father. According to the Settlement Trust, after the TPG acquisition he served with Jeffrey Binder as co-executive chairman of Exactech and Osteon Holdings until he retired from day-to-day management on or about January 6, 2020. These are allegations in the Settlement Trust’s pending complaint and have not been adjudicated. [src-025] [src-002] [src-012] ## Holdings, royalties and the sale - Analysis: In 2010 he and Betty Petty beneficially owned 29.5% of Exactech, mostly through Prima Investments, and he received design royalties with Gary Miller of $300,000 in 2009; he was one of the sellers, and a sellers' representative, when Exactech bought Brighton Partners in 2010. In the TPG merger he exchanged 102,400 shares for 5,821,546 Class B shares of the buyer, and the proxy's table, which prices every listed share at the merger price without deducting the shares rolled over, values his 3,258,071 shares at $160,459,997; the trust alleges he received over $46 million as a result of the acquisition. These are allegations in the Settlement Trust’s pending complaint and have not been adjudicated. [src-037] [src-068] [src-002] [src-012] - Analysis: Offshore Leaks data list him among the directors of a Barbados company named EXACTECH INTERNATIONAL, INC. from 1999 until it closed in 2003; the data do not state its owner or purpose and do not indicate wrongdoing. He was listed as an officer of ExactOrtho, Inc., a Florida company filed in December 2017 and dissolved in 2019. [src-090] [src-102] ## Proceedings naming him - Analysis: He is one of the defendants in The Arbitrage Fund's suit for breach of fiduciary duty over the TPG sale, in which the Florida appeals court reversed the denial of class certification in July 2020; the ruling concerned standing, not the merits. He was named, with his wife, his son and Gary Miller, in Florida product-liability suits that were closed in October 2024 on account of the bankruptcy. The trust alleges that in October 2018, at Binder's direction, he emailed HSS surgeons a letter urging HSS to withdraw a presentation on oxidation of Exactech polyethylene, and it sues him for breach of fiduciary duty, including for conduct before the TPG acquisition. These are allegations in the Settlement Trust’s pending complaint and have not been adjudicated. [src-072] [src-060] [src-092] [src-110] [src-012] - Documented: Dockets of product-liability suits filed in the Alachua County, Florida circuit court in 2022 and 2023 under the Florida master case (No. 2022 CA 002670), including case number 2022 CA 2702, name as defendants Exactech, Inc., Exactech U.S., Inc., the packaging supplier Hillman Supply Company, Inc., William Petty, Betty Petty, David Petty, Gary Miller, Miller Family Holdings, LLC and Miller Family Holdings, Inc. [src-060] [src-092] [src-110] - Response: Hillman Supply Company filed an answer, affirmative defences and a jury demand in December 2023; the individual founders and the Miller family companies moved to dismiss in June 2023. - Outcome: The cases were closed on October 29, 2024 on account of the bankruptcy filed in the Exactech master case. ## Sources - [src-025] Exactech, Inc. registration statement (Form S-1/A) for its 1996 initial public offering, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 1996 - [src-002] Exactech, Inc. definitive merger proxy statement (Schedule 14A, DEFM14A), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2018-01-16 - [src-012] Court record source · src-012 - [src-037] Exactech, Inc. 2010 proxy statement (DEF 14A), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2010 - [src-068] Company statement source · src-068 - [src-090] Research source · src-090 - [src-102] Sunbiz detail record for ExactOrtho, Inc. (document P17000096933), Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, 2019 - [src-072] Court record source · src-072 - [src-060] Court record source · src-060 - [src-092] Court record source · src-092 - [src-110] Court record source · src-110