--- title: "Founders, shareholders and board of the public company, 1996–2018" language: en canonical: https://dossiertwist.com/dossiers/exactech/public-company/ 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"] --- # Founders, shareholders and board of the public company, 1996–2018 **Question.** Who founded, owned and governed Exactech while it was a listed company? **Answer.** Dr. William Petty, an orthopaedic surgeon and University of Florida professor, Dr. Gary Miller, a biomedical engineer, and Betty Petty founded Exactech and kept large stakes after the 1996 IPO: the Pettys beneficially owned 29.5% in 2010, mostly through Prima Investments, and Miller 4.0%. William Petty was chairman from the start and chief executive until 2014; his son David Petty became chief executive in 2014. Outside directors in 2010 included Albert Burstein, a former Hospital for Special Surgery scientist, R. Wynn Kearney and Paul Metts. ## Founders and early officers - Analysis: Exactech's 1996 registration statement describes William Petty, M.D. as a founder and its chairman and chief executive officer since inception, a professor at the University of Florida College of Medicine since July 1975 and chair of its Department of Orthopaedic Surgery from July 1981 to January 1996. Gary J. Miller, Ph.D., also a founder, had been vice president of research and development since October 1986 and a director since March 1989, while teaching orthopaedic surgery at the same college; he had been a consultant to FDA from 1989 to 1992. Timothy J. Seese had been president and chief operating officer since March 1991, Joel C. Phillips treasurer since March 1996, and Betty Petty, William Petty's wife, secretary since inception. [src-025] - Analysis: By the 2018 merger proxy William Petty had been chairman since inception and chief executive until 2014, and president from January 2002 to December 2007. David W. Petty, his son, had joined in 1988, became president in November 2007 and chief executive in March 2014. Miller had been executive vice president of research and development since February 2000 and a director from March 1989 through May 2003. [src-002] ## The families’ holdings - Analysis: Before the IPO William and Betty Petty held 1,318,699 shares as joint tenants, and a shareholders agreement with the Petty family, its principal shareholders, gave William and Betty Petty a first right to buy any shares the others sold. In 2010 the couple beneficially owned 3,868,439 shares (29.5%), of which 3,517,498 were held by Prima Investments, Limited Partnership (27.3%). Miller beneficially owned 518,535 shares (4.0%), including 411,212 held by Millerworks, Limited Partnership, a Nevada partnership whose general partner Miller owned and whose interests he and his family held. FMR, LLC (5.5%) and GAMCO Investors (6.2%) were the institutional holders listed. [src-025] [src-037] ## Management and directors in 2010 - Analysis: In March 2010 the officers were William Petty (chief executive and chairman), Miller (research and development), David Petty (president and director), Phillips (chief financial officer and treasurer), Bruce Thompson (general manager of the biologics and spine division) and Betty Petty (administration and human resources, corporate secretary). The other directors were Albert Burstein, R. Wynn Kearney, Jr., Paul E. Metts, William B. Locander and James G. Binch, with Richard C. Smith nominated. The proxy describes Kearney as a director since 1989 and a senior partner of a Minnesota orthopaedic clinic, Metts as a director since 1998 who had run Shands HealthCare and retired in 2009 as Florida's Deputy Secretary of Health, and Burstein as a director since 1996 who had been a senior scientist at the Hospital for Special Surgery from 1976 to 1996. [src-037] - Analysis: McGladrey & Pullen had been the company's auditor since 2007. The 2010 proxy also notes $33,075 of extra fees paid to Metts for his part in "the Department of Defense inquiry the company is involved in", without describing it. A January 2015 press release names Jody Phillips as chief financial officer. [src-037] [src-029] ## Early lawsuits - Analysis: The 1996 registration statement disclosed a products-liability suit filed in December 1994 in Pinellas County, Florida over the acetabular components of Exactech's hip system, which the company said was without merit and in which its insurer represented it, and an April 1995 patent suit by Joint Medical that was dismissed against Exactech without prejudice in July 1995 under a tolling agreement. [src-025] ## 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-037] Exactech, Inc. 2010 proxy statement (DEF 14A), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2010 - [src-029] Exactech, Inc. press release on the acquisition of BlueOrtho (Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2015-01-20