Meet The New Billionaires Behind Medline’s Blockbuster IPO
When Medline Industries, one of America’s largest medical supply manufacturers and distributors, filed for its initial public offering in August 2024, it wasn’t just another corporate milestone—it was the culmination of a remarkable family business journey spanning four generations. Founded in 1910 by A.L. Mills as a garment manufacturer for Chicago’s butcher shops and stockyards, Medline has transformed into a healthcare powerhouse that now generates over $23 billion in annual revenue. The company’s evolution from humble beginnings to industry giant reflects the Mills family’s entrepreneurial spirit, adaptability, and commitment to keeping medical supply chains moving even during the most challenging times, including the recent pandemic that tested global healthcare systems to their limits.
At the heart of Medline’s success story are three family members who became billionaires virtually overnight when the company’s valuation became public: Charlie Mills, Andy Mills, and Jim Abrams. Charlie Mills, who served as CEO from 1997 until 2021, has been the steady hand guiding Medline’s exponential growth over the past three decades, expanding the company from $500 million in revenue to over $20 billion during his tenure. His cousin Andy Mills, who stepped into the president role in 1997, has been instrumental in driving the company’s commercial success through strategic marketing and sales initiatives. Meanwhile, Jim Abrams, who married into the Mills family and joined Medline in 1986, brought financial expertise as the company’s COO before becoming its CEO in 2022, preparing the organization for its public market debut. Together, this triumvirate has modernized Medline while maintaining the family’s legacy of ethical business practices and customer-focused innovation.
What makes Medline’s growth particularly impressive is how the company has navigated the increasingly complex healthcare landscape while remaining true to its roots. Even after selling a 79% stake to private equity investors in 2021 in a deal valuing the company at $34 billion, the family maintained significant ownership and operational control—a testament to both their business acumen and the investors’ confidence in their leadership. The Mills family has consistently prioritized long-term sustainability over quick profits, reinvesting in manufacturing capabilities, distribution networks, and product innovation. This approach has enabled Medline to become an essential partner to hospitals, nursing homes, surgery centers, and other healthcare providers across North America, offering everything from surgical gloves and gowns to advanced wound care products and sophisticated medical equipment.
The COVID-19 pandemic represented both Medline’s greatest challenge and finest hour. When global supply chains collapsed and healthcare facilities desperately needed personal protective equipment, Medline leveraged its domestic manufacturing capabilities and international relationships to deliver critical supplies. The company ramped up production of masks, gowns, and sanitizers, chartered planes to transport goods from overseas, and worked around the clock to fulfill orders. This period highlighted the strategic importance of Medline’s earlier decisions to maintain significant manufacturing capacity within the United States—a choice that proved prescient when international shipping became unreliable. Throughout the crisis, the family leadership maintained their commitment to supporting healthcare workers and patients, sometimes at the expense of short-term profitability, further cementing Medline’s reputation as a reliable partner in times of need.
Beyond their business achievements, the Mills family has maintained a remarkably low profile despite their growing wealth and influence. Unlike many billionaire families who become fixtures in society pages or political circles, Charlie, Andy, and Jim have focused on building their business and supporting healthcare causes rather than seeking personal recognition. The family has established foundations that support medical research, healthcare education, and community health initiatives, quietly contributing to improvements in patient care beyond their commercial activities. This approach reflects the values established by A.L. Mills and reinforced by subsequent generations: that the company’s purpose extends beyond profit to include making meaningful contributions to healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. As Medline transitions to public company status, this commitment to purpose beyond shareholder returns will be tested in new ways.
As Medline enters this new chapter as a publicly traded company, the billionaire family behind it faces fresh challenges: balancing the quarterly expectations of Wall Street with their traditional long-term outlook, maintaining their company culture amid increased scrutiny, and navigating increasingly competitive and regulated healthcare markets. The IPO represents both a culmination of their past success and the beginning of a new journey. With healthcare spending continuing to grow globally and an aging population creating increasing demand for medical products, Medline appears well-positioned for continued expansion. Yet the true test of the Mills family’s legacy won’t be measured in stock price alone, but in how well the company continues to serve healthcare providers and patients in the decades to come. For Charlie, Andy, and Jim—the once-private billionaires now thrust into the public spotlight—their greatest accomplishment may be creating an organization that can sustain its mission and values even as it evolves beyond family control.
