Dive Brief:

• Waste Connections announced Friday that President Worthing Jackman has taken over as CEO. He will also join the company's board of directors.
• Former CEO and founder Ron Mittelstaedt has transitioned to the role of executive chairman of the board. He will remain an employee of the company to "assist in several areas, including culture, strategy and mergers and acquisitions."
• Mittelstaedt​ recently returned from a temporary leave of absence, which led to the move. "After almost 22 years, it's time for me to step away from day-to-day operations to provide sufficient time to address health matters affecting my family," he said said in a statement issued by the company. 

Dive Insight:

Jackman takes on the role of CEO after acting as the company's investment banker since its start in 1997. He later joined the company in 2003, became CFO in 2004 and was promoted to president in 2018. 

The change in leadership at the third-largest solid waste and recycling company in the U.S. comes after longtime CEO Mittelstaedt was absent from Waste Connections' previous two quarterly earnings calls. While performance hasn't been notably affected, the situation did attract questions from financial analysts.

"I wouldn't say anyone's skipping a beat," Jackman responded during the company's first quarter call in April. "I think you see it's a testament to the organization that [Ron] has put together that you've seen the results that we're printing right now."

Mittelstaedt leaves his position after founding the company over 20 years ago. After taking it public in 1998, he grew Waste Connections into one of the biggest industry players in North America. Today, Waste Connections boasts $5.3 billion in annual revenue, a market cap of about $25 billion, and operations in 42 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces that serve more than seven million customers. 

Jackman takes over as Waste Connections has been on an acquisition spree and aggressively expanded its footprint in recent years. It purchased 20 companies in 2017 and 2018 worth an estimated $1.032 billion. The company's American Disposal acquisition was the biggest deal made last year. 

There are currently no signs that Waste Connections plans to slow down its growth ambitions despite Mittelstaedt's departure. Jackman has long played a key role in the company's leadership and told Waste Dive in May that his "role really hasn't changed, whether Ron's there or Ron's not."

Waste Connections reported a 9.2% increase in revenue for the first quarter and acquisitions worth $100 million in annualized revenue to date. The company's second quarter results will be released next week.