CEOs with major controlling stakes in their billion-dollar companies have the power to make themselves richer and richer, but one 82-year-old tech leader isn’t cashing in for herself. Judy Faulkner, the CEO of Epic Systems, has been selling her nonvoting shares back to the company—and redirecting the profits elsewhere.
“I’ve never cashed a single share for myself,” Faulkner recently told CNBC.
On paper, Faulkner is worth $7.8 billion, thanks to her 43% stake in Epic. The health software firm is one of the largest private tech players in the U.S., pulling in $5.7 billion in annual revenue. But the CEO, a member of the Silent Generation, isn’t looking to grow her nest egg. In fact, she’s trying to get rid of it.
In 2015, Faulkner signed the Giving Pledge (a philanthropic organization helmed by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates) and dedicated to give away 99% of her wealth to charitable causes. The Epic leader told CNBC she is pouring the profits from her stock sales to Roots & Wings, a family foundation she launched with her husband that provides grants to nonprofits that support low-income children and families.
In 2020, Roots & Wings granted $15 million to 115 organizations around the U.S. focused on the health, education, and well-being of families, and last year Faulkner’s foundation estimated it would give $67 million to 305 organizations, according to Forbes. But the Epic CEO is determined to off-load more of her wealth faster, steadily increasing giving rates until Roots & Wings reaches its goal of $100 million every year as early as 2027. To manage the massive outflow of her money from selling Epic shares, Faulkner set up a trust to govern the stock sell-back process in order to not destabilize the company.
Only nine of the 256 billionaires who signed the Giving Pledge are actually following through with their promise.
Fortune reached out to Epic Systems for comment.
Monthly ‘work church’ meetings and grammar lessons in themed Epic buildings
While billionaire interest in signing the Giving Pledge has waned in recent years as many CEOs, including Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, hoard their fortunes, Faulkner is marching to the beat of her own drum. And that’s not the only way she’s defying conventional leadership in the tech world. The CEO described as a “female cross between Bill Gates and Willy Wonka” by UMass Memorial Health leader Eric Dickson is bringing play and grammar lessons to her 14,000 employees.
Epic Systems’ massive 1,670-acre campus in Wisconsin is nothing like the futuristic or modern headquarters of other billion-dollar Silicon Valley tech companies.
Each of the 28 buildings on the company’s sprawling campus has a fantastical theme, ranging from The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland to the Harry Potter franchise. They’re then grouped into mini campuses, including Prairie Campus, Wizards Academy, and Storybook Campus, with the offices designed by architecture business Cuningham, which also worked on the Disney theme parks.
The grounds are adorned with a metal wizard standing guard of a castle, chocolate chips leading to a fake chocolate factory, and a hanging bridge that leads to a tree house. And inside, the rooms are filled with tchotchkes and paintings that Epic employees help source with Faulkner at local arts fairs.
And once a month inside Epic’s underground auditorium, called Deep Space, the business holds a mandatory staff meeting. According to CNBC, some employees jokingly call the get-together “work church,” when executives run through Epic’s business news and targets. But Faulkner also likes to throw a twist in the typical boring all-hands meeting by having a grammar lesson, teaching language lessons like when to use “who” or “whom.”
Other companies with unique offices and unconventional meeting philosophies
Epic Systems isn’t the only company with an office setup unlike most others.
Nonprofit health care provider Wellstar Health System doesn’t try to keep workers happy with Ping-Pong tables and beer on tap. The Fortune 500 company’s offices include “wellness rooms,” complete with massage chairs, relaxing music, and healthy snacks to keep its 28,000 workers happy. The offerings have proved popular with employees, as turnover fell by 10% in 2024.
Understood, a nonprofit that provides resources to people and families who are neurodivergent, designed its office specifically for the employees who work there and the clients it serves. Its space has something for everyone; one side of the floor has traditional white overhead lighting, while the other side has more muted yellow lighting. The office also has different zones with designated thermal controls, so employees can work in the temperatures they prefer. Also, staffers with hearing impairments were factored into the equation, as the floor has an assistive listening system that connects to their cochlear implants.
And other CEOs don’t like their meetings to be so buttoned-up, just like Faulkner. Amazon founder Bezos thrives in chaos; the tech leader said he only wants “crisp documents” and “messy meetings” that go in all different directions. Bezos encouraged his workers to show the “ugly bits” of decision-making in these meetings—and despised the conversations being “rehearsed” ahead of time.
“I’m very skeptical if the meetings are not messy,” Bezos said at the 2024 New York Times DealBook Summit.
