The CEO of Unitedhealth, Andrew Witty, withdrew for personal reasons and the largest health insurer in the country has suspended its annual financial prospects due to higher medical costs than expected.
President Stephen Hemsley will become CEO, with immediate effect, said Minnesota company.
Hemsley was CEO of Unitedhealth Group from 2006 to 2017. He will remain chairman of the board of directors of the company. Witty will be a main advisor to Hemsley.
It was a punistent period for Unitedhealth, from December when the executive Brian Thompson was targeted outside a New York hotel and killed. Although unrelated to the financial giant’s financial operations of $ 340 billion, its shares have seriously dropped since the attack.
“I am deeply disappointed and apologize for the performance backwards we have encountered in external and internal challenges,” said Hemsley at a call conference on Tuesday early. “Many problems that behave in achieving our objectives as well as our opportunities are largely under our control. I am optimistic about our future, because these problems are in our ability to solve. We will approach them with humility, rigor and emergency. ”
The 60 -year -old spirit of mind joined the company in 2018 after having served about nine years as CEO of the British drug manufacturer Glaxosmithkline. He was appointed CEO of Unitedhealth In February 2021, replacing Dave Wichmann.
United has become one of the largest companies in the country under the direction of Witty. Total turnover exceeded $ 400 billion last year, an increase of 55% compared to the $ 257 billion Unitedhealth brought the year before Witty became CEO.
Unitedhealth’s shares have also increased by 60.5% since more than 60.5% since it took the first job of the company.
However, there have been several setbacks for Unitedhealth in the past five months while he is fighting with national attention Luigi Mangionewhich was charged last month for a federal murder in the murder of Thompson.
The case captured the American imagination, triggering a resentment cascade and online vitriol towards us, health insurers during Growing business leaders concerned about security.
Unitedhealth cut His forecasts of 2025 last month after his first quarterly results are missing in more than a decade. On Tuesday, the company completely withdrew financial forecasts, saying that the medical costs of members of New Medicare Advantage were higher than expected.
Unitedhealth’s shares, which fell 38% since the deadly ambushes on December 4 of Thompson In Midtown Manhattan, he dropped more than 16% Tuesday at levels for the last time almost five years ago.