Mark Bertolini

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Mark Bertolini
Mark Bertolini (cropped).jpg
Bertolini in March 2012
Born (1956-06-07) June 7, 1956 (age 69)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Education Wayne State University (BA)
Cornell University (MBA)
OccupationBusiness executive
Title
SpouseMari Arnaud
Children2

Mark T. Bertolini (born 1956) is an American business executive who has been the CEO of Oscar Health, a tech-driven health insurance company located in New York, since 2023. He was the co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world's largest hedge funds, and was previously the CEO of Aetna, a Fortune 50 diversified health care benefits company with over $60 billion in 2015 revenue. Bertolini assumed the role of CEO in November 2010 and of chairman in April 2011, until Aetna was sold to CVS in November 2018. He is also the chairman of Verizon since October 2025.

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Early life and education

Bertolini was born in Detroit, in 1956. [1] He completed his undergraduate studies at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and earned an MBA from Cornell University's Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. [2]

Career

Bertolini held executive positions at Cigna, NYLCare Health Plans, and SelectCare before joining Aetna in 2003. He became CEO of Aetna on November 29, 2010, and chairman on April 8, 2011. [2] As chairman, president and CEO of Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna, Bertolini oversaw a health insurer with more than $35.5 billion in revenue, according to 2012 figures. [3]

He served on the Board of Directors for the U.S.-China Business Council and on the Board of Directors for FIDELCO; an organization that trains, breeds and provides guide dogs for the visually impaired. In addition, Bertolini was on the Board of Directors for The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, an organization that focuses on serving children with serious illnesses including cancer. [4]

Bertolini received a total compensation of $10.6 million in 2011 and $13.2 million in 2012 despite a cut of bonuses from $2 million to $892,000 for failing to meet financial performance goals. [5] [ failed verification ] In 2013, Bertolini received $30.7 million in compensation. [6]

Bertolini in April 2016 described Aetna's participation in ACA individual exchanges as "a good investment" despite initial losses, emphasizing the long-term possibilities.[ citation needed ] By July 5, 2016 he wrote to the DOJ that Aetna would, instead of expanding into 20 states, reduce its participation from 15 to ten states if its merger with Humana were challenged by the DOJ. After that challenge occurred, Aetna reduced its participation in ObamaCare individual exchanges to four states, citing its inability to sustain the losses it incurred in those markets. Among the states Aetna abandoned was Pennsylvania where it ran a profit in 2014 and 2015 and projected a record profit for 2017.[ citation needed ] Bertolini said in an August 2 conference to financial analysts that the decision to withdraw from the exchanges was "a separate conversation" from the Humana merger lawsuit. [7] In January 2017, the merger was blocked by a federal judge. [8] Bertolini retired as the CEO of Aetna, after the company was acquired by CVS Health in November 2018. [9]

Bertolini assumed the role of CEO for Oscar Health on April 3, 2023. [10]

In 2023, Bertolini's total compensation at Oscar Health was $44.5 million, representing a CEO-to-median worker pay ratio of 455-to-1. [11]

Bertolini was made chairman of Verizon in October 2025. [12]

Personal life

Bertolini is married to Mari Arnaud, a craniosacral therapist. [13] He has a son and a daughter. [14] In 2004, Bertolini sustained a spinal cord injury in a severe skiing accident in Vermont, resulting in partial disability. In 2007, he donated one of his kidneys to his son, a cancer survivor. [15] [16]

References

  1. "Mark T. Bertolini profile". Forbes. 2011. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Executive bio". Aetna. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  3. "50 of the Most Powerful People in Healthcare". www.beckershospitalreview.com. 7 January 2014.
  4. Executive Biographies: Mark Bertolini; Aetna Inc.; 2001-2014
  5. Strauss, Gary (8 April 2013). "Aetna CEO latest health exec with big payday". USA Today.
  6. "Health Insurance CEO Pay Sky-Rockets in 2013". CNBC. 5 May 2014. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014.
  7. Hiltzik, Michael (17 August 2016). "Smoking gun? Aetna threatened to quit Obamacare if the government blocked its Humana merger". Los Angeles Times .
  8. "Judge blocks major health insurance merger". POLITICO. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  9. Gosselin, Kenneth R. (9 July 2019). "Hartford in the rearview mirror? Former Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini puts West Hartford home up for sale". courant.com. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  10. Dattilo, Emily (March 28, 2023). "Oscar Health Stock Soars Because Aetna's Former CEO Is Taking the Wheel". Barron's.
  11. "Equilar 100: CEO Pay at the Largest Companies by Revenue". Equilar. 2024-06-07. Archived from the original on 2024-08-15. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  12. Vlessing, Etan (2025-10-06). "Former PayPal CEO to Lead Verizon". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2025-10-09.
  13. Feloni, Richard (March 22, 2019). "How a love for yoga led Aetna's former CEO to raise the insurance giant's minimum wage to $16 an hour". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-10-09.
  14. Machan, Dyan (September 7, 2013). "The Health-Care Reformer". Barron's.
  15. La Roche, Julia (July 23, 2017). "How 2 life-threatening events changed how Aetna's CEO views health care". Yahoo Finance.
  16. Crow, David (March 13, 2016). "Mark Bertolini, Aetna CEO: mindful of mortality". Financial Times.