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Richard Burke is famous for starting up a small claims processing operation (Charter Med Inc.) and turning it into UnitedHealth Group—which became one of the largest healthcare companies worldwide.
When founding Charter Med Inc., he leveraged his health analyst background from InterStudy to implement HMO-focused growth strategies.
He renamed it United HealthCare in 1977 and went on a buying spree of regional HMOs nationwide.
His exit as CEO in 1987 stemmed from tensions over his simultaneous leadership of both United HealthCare and Physicians Health Plan, Minnesota's largest HMO.
Burke continued to influence the company by staying on the board, later serving as chairman from 2006 to 2017 during critical periods including the McGuire stock-options scandal.
He finally ended his 45-year relationship with the company in 2022.
William McGuire served as the CEO of UnitedHealth from 1986 to 2006.
He grew revenue from $600 million to $70 billion and built a 70-million-customer base via mergers and acquisitions.
McGuire’s tenure ended in scandal over stock option backdating.
He accumulated $1.6 billion in options before resigning and later returned $468 million in a SEC settlement.
Stephen Hemsley took over UnitedHealth Group from 2006 to 2017, nearly tripling revenue from $70.7 billion to $200.1 billion.
The company's stock delivered 360% returns, outpacing the S&P 500 by 283 percentage points.
UnitedHealth became the 7th largest company on the Fortune 500.
Despite commanding high compensation—peaking at $101.96 million in 2010—Hemsley maintained minimal public visibility.
Hemsley delivered record profits of $10.5 billion in his final year.
David Wichmann led UnitedHealth Group from September 2017 to February 2021.
The company's revenue grew to $257 billion, generating $15.4 billion in profit during 2020's market volatility.
UnitedHealth entered Fortune's Top 50 World's Most Admired Companies list.
Wichmann was compensated $18.9 million in 2019, rising to $42.1 million in 2020.
In his final year he was paid $142.2 million, largely from accumulated equity awards.
His exit came to an end just after just 3.5 years as CEO.
Andrew Witty became CEO of UnitedHealth Group in February 2021 during an unexpected leadership change.
Previously, he had led Optum since 2018 and served as UnitedHealth Group's president since 2019.
His time as CEO has centered on three core areas:
First, strategic execution.
Witty manages the enterprise's direction while serving on the board.
Second, financial outcomes.
He has been compensated based on UnitedHealth's market position—at $23.5 million in 2023—he’s the highest paidhealthcare service CEO at this point.
Third, crisis response.
The February 2024 cyberattack on Change Healthcare tested his leadership.
When critics questioned the Change Healthcare acquisition, Witty defended UnitedHealth's ability to strengthen the subsidiary post-attack.
Witty briefly stepped away from UnitedHealth in 2020 to assist the World Health Organization's COVID-19 response.
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