Kent Thiry

Kent Thiry is a Colorado-based executive, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and civic leader known for taking a company from the brink of bankruptcy to the Fortune 500. Mr. Thiry joined DaVita, a kidney dialysis services provider, as chairman and CEO in 1999 and held this role until 2019. He stepped down as executive chair the following year. Tasked with turning around the company, which a Harvard Business School 1999 case study noted was in “financial shambles,” Kent Thiry employed an innovative “community first, company second” corporate governance to empower employees while improving DaVita’s financial performance. From 2000 to 2020, the year he left DaVita, the company's equity market value grew from $150 million to $9.2 billion, and its number of dialysis centers increased from 250 to 3,000. Beyond effective financial and operational strategies, Mr. Thiry also emphasized corporate social responsibility at DaVita. He created in excess of 30 philanthropic and local community service projects under a "Trilogy of Care" umbrella and, along with his wife, established the KT Community Foundation to fund local hands-on volunteer programs led by DaVita teammates across the world. He also implemented a range of measures to lower DaVita's environmental footprint, which led to the company earning regular distinction as a Top Green Company by Newsweek. Although retired from business, Mr. Thiry has been active in several civic pursuits in recent years. He established the non-partisan organization Let Colorado Vote to boost citizen engagement and increase voter access to Colorado elections. He has also led efforts to raise over $50 million dollars to provide COVID relief grants to Colorado small businesses with an emphasis on businesses owned by women, minorities, and veterans and businesses in rural communities. In addition, Kent Thiry co-founded The Aspen Group and was part of the leadership group that founded The Colorado Innovation Network. Mr. Thiry began his career in the 1980s after earning his bachelor of arts with honors in political science from Stanford University and his MBA with honors from Harvard Business School. He worked as a partner at Bain & Company and subsequently served in multiple executive capacities at the healthcare service company Vivra before coming to DaVita.