May 18, 2004
Guidant Corporation Announces Ronald W. Dollens to Retire at the End of the Year

Dollens will Remain President and CEO Until His Retirement; Guido J. Neels Elevated to Chief Operating Officer

Indianapolis, Ind. - Guidant Corporation (NYSE: GDT) will announce today at its Annual Meeting of Shareholders in Indianapolis that Ronald W. Dollens, 57, president and CEO, intends to retire from the company on December 31, 2004, after 32 years of combined Guidant and Eli Lilly and Company service. Mr. Dollens has been the Guidant CEO from its initial public offering in 1994, and subsequent split-off from Eli Lilly and Company in 1995, to the present. The market capitalization of Guidant today is nearly 20 times larger than at its inception as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange.

Chairman of the Board James M. Cornelius stated, "Under Ron''s leadership, Guidant has achieved phenomenal growth and success over the past decade. The company has pioneered technologies that have saved and improved the lives of millions of cardiac and vascular patients each year. Ron has built a global organization with exceptional intellectual and operational capabilities. He has played a pivotal role communicating with Wall Street, influencing public policy on patient access and reimbursement issues, and partnering with our physician and hospital customers. The Board has always had a rigorous senior management succession planning process in place and will select a new CEO by the end of the year. The Board''s Management Development and Compensation Committee will oversee the process that will evaluate both internal and external candidates."

Mr. Dollens commented, "The company''s future has greater clarity, with certainty, than at any time in our history. My retirement decision, which is part of a deliberate, long-term succession plan, comes at a time when the company is well positioned to continue its remarkable record of success. I am confident that this management team will continue to advance our outstanding clinical leadership, our sustained focus on innovation and our leadership in the public policy arena."

Guido J. Neels Elevated to Chief Operating Officer as A. Jay Graf Announces Retirement

The current Office of the President, which was formed three years ago, will be replaced with a revised management structure. Effective immediately, Group Chairman Guido Neels, 55, will be elevated to become the company''s chief operating officer. Mr. Dollens observed, "Guido has been very successful in every phase of his Guidant global career, which has included leadership positions in all of our major business units and geographies." Mr. Neels, who currently oversees worldwide sales and distribution, will expand his current responsibilities to include global operations. Consequently, now also reporting to Mr. Neels will be the presidents of Guidant''s four operating units: Cardiac Rhythm Management, Vascular Intervention, Cardiac Surgery and Endovascular Solutions.

Group Chairman A. Jay Graf, 57, also a member of the Office of the President, announced today that he intends to retire from the company in July 2004.

"Jay has been instrumental in the formation of Guidant and its many successes over the past decade," commented Mr. Dollens. "Under Jay''s leadership, the company has built exceptional operational capabilities and technical and clinical expertise that provide the strong foundation for growth in the future."

"For a decade, Guidant has created and executed a business model that has achieved extraordinary success. As the torch passes, Guidant will build on that success," continued Mr. Dollens. "Dana Mead, president, Vascular Intervention, will continue to lead our drug eluting stent efforts as we progress on track toward commercialization. Our Cardiac Rhythm Management business, led by Fred McCoy, president, Cardiac Rhythm Management, should continue to see healthy growth going forward. Each of these talented individuals is supported by exceptional managerial talent throughout the organization."

Mr. Neels, who has more than 30 years of global business experience, was appointed to his current post in December 2002. Prior to this Neels served as president, Guidant Europe, Middle East, Africa and Canada. He also served as vice president, global marketing for Guidant Vascular Intervention and presided over Guidant''s German and Central European operations as managing director. Mr. Neels received a business engineering degree from the University of Leuven in Belgium, and holds a master of business administration from Stanford University.

Mr. Dollens will continue his active leadership role in global public policy organizations through the end of the year. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Healthcare Leadership Council in Washington, D.C., and is past chairman of AdvaMed, a Washington, D.C.-based trade association and the largest medical technology association in the world. Mr. Dollens recently served on the Advisory Committee on Regulatory Reform, a group appointed by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson.

Guidant Corporation pioneers lifesaving technology, giving an opportunity for better life today to millions of cardiac and vascular patients worldwide. The company, driven by a strong entrepreneurial culture of 12,000 employees, develops, manufactures and markets a broad array of products and services that enable less invasive care for some of life''s most threatening medical conditions. For more information visit www.guidant.com.

This release includes forward-looking statements concerning the company''s drug eluting stent efforts, growth in the Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) business, and future management changes. The statements are based on assumptions about many important factors, including satisfactory clinical results and regulatory progress, continued growth in the CRM market as a whole, continued progress in the company''s process to evaluate candidates and other factors identified on Exhibit 99 to the company''s most recent 10-Q. Actual results may differ materially. The company does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements.