Walk onto the 1,100-acre campus in Verona, Wisconsin, and you’ll see a literal subway station, a medieval castle, and an auditorium that looks like it belongs in a sci-fi flick. This isn't Google or Apple. It’s the home of Epic Systems, the company that basically owns the digital memory of your medical life.
At the center of it all is Judy Faulkner.
She's 82 years old now. While most billionaires her age are busy on yachts, she’s still running the show as CEO. Honestly, calling her "powerful" is an understatement. If you’ve ever sat in a doctor’s office and watched them type into a screen, there is a nearly 40% chance they were using her software.
The Basement Startup That Won
Most tech giants follow a predictable script: get venture capital, burn through cash, go public, and make the founders rich while the product gets worse. Judy did the opposite. She started Epic in 1979 in a basement with about $70,000. She never took a dime of outside investment.
She just... built it.
The strategy was simple but incredibly hard to pull off. She focused on the software first. She didn't have a marketing department for years. Epic doesn't even have a formal sales team in the traditional sense. They don't do flashy Super Bowl ads. Instead, they focused on "land and expand." Once a hospital system like the Mayo Clinic or Cleveland Clinic signs on, they stay. Forever.
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Epic Systems Judy Faulkner and the "No IPO" Rule
Wall Street hates Judy Faulkner. Why? Because they can’t buy her.
She has been vocal—borderline obsessed—about never taking the company public. In her view, once you have shareholders, you stop caring about the patient and start caring about the quarterly earnings report.
She’s actually set up a legal structure to make sure the company stays private even after she's gone. Her voting shares are destined for a trust. The rules of that trust are strict:
- No selling the company.
- No IPO.
- The next CEO must be a developer.
- They must be a long-term employee.
It’s a "poison pill" for anyone hoping to flip the company for a quick buck. She wants Epic to be a "perpetual" company. It’s a bit of a throwback to a different era of business, honestly. You've got companies like Oracle and Microsoft sniffing around healthcare constantly, but they can't touch Epic.
Is She a Visionary or a Gatekeeper?
There is a lot of talk about "interoperability." That’s just a fancy word for "can my doctor in Florida see what my doctor in New York did?" For a long time, Epic was accused of being a "walled garden." People felt like it was too hard to get data out of their system.
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Judy’s response? She points to "Care Everywhere."
Today, 100% of Epic organizations are interoperable. They exchange millions of records every day. But critics still argue that Epic’s dominance makes it hard for smaller startups to break into the market. When one company controls the records of over 300 million people, they set the rules.
Lately, she’s been pushing into AI. But not just for the sake of it. Epic is using Large Language Models to help doctors write notes faster. They call it "Cosmos," a massive de-identified database of patient data that helps researchers figure out which treatments actually work. It’s precision medicine on a scale we haven't seen before.
The 99% Commitment
Here’s something most people don’t realize: Judy Faulkner is one of the wealthiest women in the world, with a net worth hovering around $7.7 billion. But she’s signed the Giving Pledge.
She is giving away 99% of her wealth.
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She isn't just writing a check to a big charity and walking away, though. Her foundation, Roots & Wings, focuses on "trust-based philanthropy." They give money to nonprofits—mostly focusing on low-income children—and then they actually stay out of the way. They don't demand endless reports or micromanage how the money is spent.
What Happens Next?
The big question in the halls of Verona is succession. Judy has no plans to retire, but at 82, people are looking at the bench.
Sumit Rana, currently the President, is widely considered the heir apparent. He’s been there for nearly 30 years. He started as a developer. That’s the key for Judy—the leader has to understand the code.
What you should take away from the Epic story:
- Independence matters. By refusing VC money, Faulkner kept 100% control of her vision.
- Focus on the "Long Now." While other companies chase trends, Epic builds for decades.
- Culture is a tool. The wacky campus and the "no-nonsense" attitude aren't just for show; they keep employees from leaving.
If you’re a healthcare provider or an IT professional, the best way to stay ahead is to master the "Cosmos" data tools and the new AI-integrated MyChart features. The "Epic era" isn't ending; it’s just moving into its next phase. Keep an eye on the trust-governance updates over the next year to see how the transition of power will actually function in practice.