Name: Warren Foust
New title: CEO, STAAR Surgical
Previous title: Interim co-CEO, STAAR Surgical
STAAR Surgical named Warren Foust as CEO, ending the leadership uncertainty that began shortly after shareholders rejected Alcon’s $1.6 billion takeover offer in January.
Stephen Farrell, the previous CEO of the implantable eye lens company, stepped down in the aftermath of the collapse of the sale to Alcon. STAAR chair Elizabeth Yeu left the company at the same time. Days after Farrell left, STAAR appointed Foust and Deborah Andrews as interim co-CEOs. Foust agreed to serve as interim co-CEO until either Aug. 1 or the appointment of a permanent CEO.
On Tuesday, STAAR named Foust as its permanent CEO. Andrews will work as CFO, resuming the role that she held before becoming co-CEO on an interim basis.
Foust joined STAAR in 2023 as chief operating officer and became the company’s president in 2025. The newly appointed CEO will continue as president. Andrews’ new title includes executive vice president.
A five-person committee, including executives at investment funds that opposed the Alcon deal, oversaw the search for a new CEO. The committee considered internal and external candidates. After “a rigorous global search,” it was clear that Foust was “the right leader to take STAAR forward,” Neal Bradsher, board chair, said in a statement.
Foust worked at Johnson & Johnson before joining STAAR. Andrews, who retired in 2020, rejoined STAAR last year as CFO.
Foust and Andrews will lead an organization that reported record net sales of $93.5 million in the first quarter. By the end of the first quarter, STAAR had largely moved past challenges that it faced in 2025, including “significant disruption stemming from the potential Alcon merger process, elevated channel inventory in our largest market and risks of rising tariffs,” Foust said on an earnings call in May.
STAAR will report second-quarter results next week. The company “just completed the strongest first half” in its history, Foust said in the statement announcing his appointment.
