Feb 22, 2000
James M. Cornelius to Become Non-Executive Chairman at Retirement

Ronald W. Dollens Assumes Additional Operational Duties

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Guidant Corporation (NYSE and PCX: GDT) announced today that James M. Cornelius, currently Chairman of the Guidant Board of Directors, and former Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Eli Lilly and Company, has elected to retire as an employee of Guidant effective August 1, 2000, after 33 years of combined Guidant/Lilly service. At the request of the Board of Directors, Mr. Cornelius will continue to serve as Chairman, in a non-management status. Elected as Guidant''s inaugural Board Chairman in 1994, Mr. Cornelius was instrumental in Guidant''s formation as a public company and subsequent split-off from Lilly. Since its formation in 1994, Guidant''s market capitalization has grown from $1 billion to over $20 billion, and the number of global employees has nearly doubled from 4,500 to just under 9,000.

Mr. Cornelius commented, "Guidant has an extraordinarily deep pool of experienced managerial talent and I am confident that the Company is well positioned today to continue its phenomenal success into the new century. My new role will allow me to be more actively involved in the Cornelius Family Foundation and direct two new International Guidant Advisory Boards, one for Europe and the other for Japan. The Advisory Boards were recently established to help influence healthcare public policy and medical device therapy acceptance." Cornelius also observed that hopefully he will now be able to spend more family time in Maui.

Ronald W. Dollens, continuing in his role as President and Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors, will now become directly responsible for the corporate support functions of finance, legal and corporate compliance, which were formerly under the direction of Mr. Cornelius. Mr. Dollens commented, "While we will miss Jim''s participation in Guidant''s day to day affairs, his nearly three decades of executive experience in the healthcare industry will continue to serve Guidant management and shareholders through his ongoing role as Chairman of the Board."

A global leader in the medical device industry, Guidant provides innovative, minimally invasive and cost-effective products and services for the treatment of cardiovascular and vascular disease. For more information on Guidant''s products and services, visit the company''s web site at http://www.guidant.com.