In 1956, Mann founded
Spectrolab, the first of his
aerospace companies. While at Spectrolab, an electro optical systems company, he also founded
Heliotek, a
semiconductor company, that became a major supplier of
solar cells for
spacecraft. Among other accomplishments during his tenure, Mann's companies provided the electric power for over 100 spacecraft and constructed one of the lunar experiments. Although he sold both companies to
Textron in 1960 (merged into one, Spectrolab is now a subsidiary of
Boeing Satellite Systems), he continued to manage them until 1972. After he left those companies to found
Pacesetter Systems, which focused on cardiac pacemakers, he sold that company in 1985 and managed it until 1992. It is now a part of
St. Jude Medical. Mann then went on to establish
MiniMed (
insulin pumps and continuous glucose devices, now owned by
Medtronic) and Advanced Bionics (
neuroprosthetics, now focused on
cochlear implants and owned by
Sonova, while its pain management and other neural stimulation products are now owned by
Boston Scientific). At the time of his death, Mann was involved in several companies, including: • founder and chairman of
Second Sight Medical Products, a biomedical company which produces the
Argus retinal prosthesis; • founder and chairman of
Bioness, a company devoted to applying
electrostimulation for functional neural defects such as paralysis; • founder and chairman of the Board of
Quallion, LLC, a company producing high reliability
batteries for medical products and for the military and aerospace industries; • Chairman of Stellar Microelectronics, an electronic circuit manufacturer for the medical, military and aerospace industries; • Mann also chaired the
Southern California Biomedical Council (SCBC or SoCalBio), the trade association that has represented and promoted the growth of biotech, medtech and digital health industries in the Greater Los Angeles region. In June 2014, the US
Food and Drug Administration approved
MannKind Corporation's application for
a unique inhalable insulin (Afrezza) for the treatment of
diabetes. Mannkind subsequently licensed the device to a French pharmaceutical company,
Sanofi, for US$925 million. Mann was
chairman of the board of MannKind Corporation, a
biomedical company, where he also served as
chief executive officer until January 12, 2015. In November 2015, Hakan Edstrom stepped down as CEO and president and will remain until July, 2017 to provide other services for the company. Mann again stepped in as interim CEO. Mann also served on the board of directors and was the largest investor in
Eclipse Aviation Mann was one of the main investors in the development of
Mulholland Estates, a gated community in Los Angeles. ==Philanthropy==