BURLINGTON – David King will remain actively involved in LabCorp even as he retires from his long tenure as CEO on Oct. 31, an executive at LabCorp tells WRAL TechWire.

This Q&A about LabCorp’s new leadership, future plans, and much more is a followon to our report about King’s retirement which we reported early Wednesday.

LabCorp CEO David King is retiring, to take executive chairman role

Replacing King as CEO is Adam Schechter, a former executive at drug firm Merck. He currently is the lead independent director on the LabCorp  (NYSE: LH) board.

Here is our exclusive Q&A:

  • How involved will Dave remain as executive chairman? Will a board chair be named to be more active in running corporate oversight?

Dave currently serves as chairman, president and CEO. Effective Nov 1., Dave will become executive chairman. Besides chairing the board, his substantive role at the company will be to assist Adam in making a smooth transition into the CEO role and to take on any other duties that he and Adam believe can create value for the company.

As executive chairman, Dave will remain an employee of the company and will continue to devote his full business time to the performance of LabCorp duties and responsibilities as determined by Adam, Dave and the board.

As to your question on corporate oversight, what your question may be getting at is who will succeed Adam in the lead independent director role. Even though LabCorp is not required to have a lead independent director, the board expects to choose one of its members to be lead independent director at a later date.

  • Why was Adam chosen as Dave’s successor?

Dave has served nearly two decades at LabCorp, including almost 13 years as CEO. For the last several years, he and the board of directors have been engaged in a planning process designed to secure the best possible successor to take LabCorp to the next level of achievement. Dave and the board have long felt that Adam was a top candidate for the role and when he stepped down as president of global human health at Merck on Dec. 31, 2018, the circumstances were right to consider succession.

Dave recruited Adam to our board of directors six years ago and, based on Adam’s demonstrated leadership abilities at Merck and his contributions to our board, Adam is perfectly positioned to succeed Dave as CEO.

  • Why did Adam decide to take this job?

After serving as Merck’s president of global human health since 2010, Adam was ready to move on to a CEO role. As a member of LabCorp’s board, Adam has been deeply engaged over the last six years in the development and evolution of LabCorp’s strategy. He knows our industry, our company, and our strategy, and is uniquely suited to continue to build on the power of our combined organization.

He is committed to continuing the company’s noble mission and he looks forward to strengthening LabCorp’s leadership position in global life sciences as we execute our strategy.

  • What is Adam’s immediate agenda for LabCorp? More changes?

Because Adam has been deeply engaged over the last six years in the development and evolution of LabCorp’s strategy, we do not expect any significant strategic changes, although the management team and the board continually review and update the strategy to take account of market developments.

Our announcement today paves the way for a smooth transition over the coming months.