Who Is Judy Faulkner?
Judy Faulkner built Epic Systems from a basement startup in the late 1970s into the largest electronic health records vendor in the United States. Today, at 82 years old, she leads the company as CEO. Furthermore, she is actively shaping what Epic looks like long after she is gone. Her mission is simple, yet extraordinary: ensure that Epic is never sold, never acquires another company, and never trades on a public stock exchange.
This is not a vague vision. It is a legally enforceable plan — and Faulkner is recruiting some of America’s most powerful healthcare executives to make it stick.
The Succession Trust That Locks Epic’s Future
How the Trust Is Structured
Currently, Faulkner holds all of Epic’s voting shares. Upon her death, those shares transfer to a trust. That trust comprises four family members and five senior Epic employees. Crucially, every member of the trust carries a legal obligation to uphold Faulkner’s rules without exception.
Rules That Cannot Be Bypassed
The trust operates under strict provisions. Epic cannot be acquired. Equally, it cannot acquire another company. It cannot go public. Moreover, new stock cannot be created to work around these restrictions. Faulkner designed each rule to close every possible loophole. Therefore, future leaders — no matter how powerful or well-intentioned — will have no legal path to reverse her decisions.
Health System CEOs as Legal Enforcers
Three CEOs With a Unique Mandate
Beyond the trust, Faulkner has taken an additional step. She has appointed three health system CEOs from Epic’s CEO Council to serve as legal watchdogs. Their role is direct: sue anyone who violates her succession rules.
“Their job is to take anyone to court who doesn’t vote according to the rules,” Faulkner explained during an appearance on the Freakonomics Radio podcast in April 2025.
Why Their Names Stay Secret
Faulkner did not reveal the three executives’ identities during the podcast. She noted that the roster changes over time and she did not have the current names available. When Becker’s reached out to Epic for clarification, a spokesperson confirmed the company would not release the names. Still, Faulkner made one point clear — these executives volunteered for the role and embraced it willingly.
The CEO Council meets once a year. Consequently, this group of healthcare leaders stays engaged with Epic’s mission and governance on an ongoing basis.
Why Epic Will Never Go Public
Faulkner’s Case Against Public Markets
In a live interview with journalist Katie Couric at Epic’s headquarters, Faulkner made a sharp argument against going public. She stated that she cannot think of a single advantage that public trading offers. Public companies, she argued, must focus relentlessly on quarterly earnings — revenue figures, profit margins, and shareholder expectations every 90 days.
“It would focus us on the wrong things that aren’t in the best interest of our customers,” she said.
Transparency Without Shareholders
Critics often argue that public companies offer greater accountability. Faulkner, however, disagrees with that framing. Epic already shares significant financial and operational information with its staff and customers. The key difference is that this sharing happens on Epic’s own terms — not on a schedule dictated by Wall Street. As a result, Epic’s leadership stays focused on patient care and software quality rather than investor sentiment.
The Danger of Acquisitions, According to Faulkner
Why Buying Other Companies Weakens Software
Faulkner is equally firm on the question of acquisitions. She believes that acquiring other software products introduces dangerous inconsistencies. Terminology shifts. Colors change. Coding schemes diverge. Workflows no longer align seamlessly.
“When you acquire a product, it no longer works so smoothly for your users,” she told Couric. “It would corrupt the consistency of the underlying software.”
One Product, One Vision
This philosophy explains Epic’s decades-long commitment to building a single, unified platform. Instead of assembling a patchwork of acquired products, Epic has grown organically. Consequently, clinicians and administrators across thousands of hospitals work within one coherent system. That consistency, Faulkner argues, is Epic’s greatest competitive advantage — and it is one that cannot survive aggressive acquisition strategies.
Epic’s Two Commandments That Drive Everything
Rules on the Wall — Literally
Epic operates under 10 company commandments. The first two are the most fundamental. They are posted in restrooms across Epic’s sprawling 1,670-acre campus in Verona, Wisconsin:
- Do not go public.
- Do not acquire or be acquired.
These are not motivational slogans. They are operational principles that shape every major decision the company makes. Together, they reflect Faulkner’s belief that private ownership and organic growth produce better healthcare software and, ultimately, better patient outcomes.
A Campus That Reflects the Mission
Epic’s Wisconsin campus spans 1,670 acres and continues to expand. The scale of the campus mirrors the scale of Faulkner’s ambitions — not financial ambitions, but mission-driven ones. She has said repeatedly that profitability is a side effect of doing the right thing, not the primary goal. This mindset, embedded in the campus culture and the company’s governance structure, is precisely what she wants to protect.
The Smallest Detail: Hold Music and Legacy
Even the smallest corners of Epic’s culture reflect Faulkner’s personal touch. Among the recommendations — not rules, but preferences — included in her succession plan is one that stands out for its simplicity: Epic’s hold music should remain classical.
Her reason? “Because I like it. It just feels like Epic to me.”
That single statement captures everything about Judy Faulkner’s approach to leadership. She built Epic around her values, her instincts, and her commitment to patients over profits. Now, through a carefully engineered trust, a rotating panel of healthcare CEOs, and a set of legally binding commandments, she is ensuring that those values outlive her.
Epic, for the foreseeable future, belongs to no one — and that is exactly how Faulkner planned it.
