Zus CEO Jonathan Bush on Getting Targeted by Wall Street’s Most Feared Activist Investor

Jonathan Bush was busy building healthcare startup Athenahealth when Wall Street’s most feared activist investor began circling.

In 2017, Elliott took a 9% stake, slammed the company’s performance, and pushed for a sale—eventually forcing Bush out as CEO.

In this conversation, he opens up about being publicly targeted, hitting rock bottom, and finding the grit to rise again.

TIME STAMPS:

00:00 - How he got into healthcare

03:29 -- Founding Athenahealth

07:16 - Athenahealth's business model

07:52 - Meeting with his cousin George W. Bush in the Oval Office

09:04 - Transitioning to public market CEO

12:00 - Elliott Management begins circling

14:49 - Damaging allegations against Bush resurface

22:02 - Did he think he would start another company?

23:27 - How the public firing affected him

24:36 - Running a company under duress

29:40 - Any Elliott criticisms that Bush thinks were valid

31:13 - Advice for CEOs who find themselves the target of an activist investor attack

32:26 - Has the experience changed him?

33:30 - Founding Zus Health

37:48 - The significance of Zus's name

38:54 - How much venture funding Zus has raised

39:20 - Would Bush take Zus public?

42:51 - His opinion on the state of the healthcare system

44:46 - Jonathan Bush's legacy

46:26 - How Jonathan Bush defines the word 'success'