Stephen J. Hemsley (born 1952) is chair of the board and former chief executive officer of UnitedHealth Group Inc. In August 2017, UnitedHealth announced that Hemsley would be stepping down after more than a decade as CEO and starting a newly created role of executive chairman of the board.

Biography

Early life

Stephen J. Hemsley was born in 1952. He graduated from

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

in 1974.

Career

He was managing partner and chief financial officer at

Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corporat ...

. In 1997, he joined the UnitedHealth Group. He has served as its chief executive officer since 2006. He was more involved in the handling of backdated

stock options In finance, an option is a contract which conveys to its owner, the ''holder'', the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a specific quantity of an underlying asset or instrument at a specified strike price on or before a specified date ...

than previously revealed, according to documents filed in a 2008

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

in a

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

District Court. The company's two investigations largely exonerated him from the backdating scandal. However, the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

(SEC) continued its investigations even after it in 2008 settled legal actions against both United Health Care itself and its former

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

Compensation

Business Week ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

'' reports his annual salary as $14,518,164. For 2016, his compensation was estimated at $31.3 million, representing a 55.8 percent increase compared to 2015, which was estimated at $14,500,000 by ''FierceHealthcare''. ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' magazine ranked him at 269th in its 2009 ''Special Report on CEO Compensation''. According to

bizjournals.com American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...

the country's highest-paid CEO, Stephen Hemsley, made $101.96 million in 2010. In 2011 he was named the highest paid CEO by Forbes following a large gain in the value of his stock ownership. In late 2011, Hemsley's most recent annual compensation was estimated by Forbes at $48.8 million.

Other positions

He serves as a trustee of the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota, and as a trustee of

Minnesota Public Radio Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, YourClassical MPR and The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest. MPR ha ...

. Additionally, he is a member of the

National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America The National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America governs the Boy Scouts of America organization. One source reports that there were 72 members of the board in 2001. The board is led by the national chair, a volunteer elected by the Nat ...

, the organization's governing body.Boy Scouts of America Annual Report 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemsley, Stephen J. American health care chief executives Living people 1952 births National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America members American chief financial officers University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) people Minnesota Public Radio people American nonprofit executives Gabelli School of Business alumni