Zus Health 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'