Stephen J. Hemsley

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Stephen J. Hemsley
Stephen Hemsley.jpg
Hemsley during a congressional oversight hearing on 22 January 2026
Born (1952-06-04) June 4, 1952 (age 73)
Education Fordham University
OccupationsCEO and Chair Of The Board at UnitedHealth Group Inc, Businessman
SpouseBarbara K. Hemsley

Stephen J. Hemsley (born June 4, 1952) is an American businessman. He is the board chairman and chief executive officer of UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Contents

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. [1] Hemsley returned to his prior post in May 2025, after being reappointed as CEO. [2] [3]

Early life and education

Hemsley was born in 1952. He graduated from Fordham University, a private Jesuit institution, in 1974 with a Bachelor's degree in accounting. [4] [5]

Career

Hemsley began his career at Arthur Andersen, LLP where he served as Managing Partner in Strategy and Planning and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). In 1997, he joined UnitedHealth Group, initially serving in senior financial roles. In 1999, he became President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), and in 2006, he was appointed as a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), succeeding William W. McGuire. Under his leadership, UnitedHealth Group created Optum, a subsidiary company, which is now the largest employer of physicians in the U.S. [5] [6] [7]

In 2015, Hemsley was elected to the Cargill's Board of Directors. [6] Cargill is a multinational food corporation, which has been America's largest private company for 38 of the last 39 years with approximately $154 billion annual revenue as of late 2025. [8]

In 2017, Hemsley stepped down as CEO and transitioned to the role of Executive Chairman of UnitedHealth Group. [9]

In 2019, while he was UnitedHealth Group chairman, Hemsley founded a private investment firm, Cloverfields Capital Group LP. [10]

A lawsuit was filed against Hemsley, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and two other senior executives in May 2024 for alleged fraud and insider trading due to failing to disclose an antitrust investigation into the company by the United States Department of Justice and selling stock options before the probe was made public. According to the claim, “the four months between learning about the DOJ investigation and the investigation becoming public, UnitedHealth’s Chairman Stephen Hemsley sold over $102 million of his personally held UnitedHealth shares and Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, sold over $15 million of his personally held UnitedHealth shares.” [11] [12] [13]

Compensation

Business Week reported his annual salary as $14,518,164. [14] For 2016, his compensation was estimated at $31.3 million, representing a 55.8 percent increase compared to 2015, [15] which was estimated at $14,500,000 by FierceHealthcare. [16]

Forbes magazine ranked him at 269th in its 2009 Special Report on CEO Compensation. [17] Hemsley was paid $102 million in 2009, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. [18] In 2011, he was named the highest paid CEO by Forbes following a large gain in the value of his stock ownership. [19]

In 2025, following his return as CEO of UnitedHealth Group, Hemsley was awarded a compensation package that included $60 million in stock options, set to vest over three years, along with a base annual salary of $1 million. [20]

Other positions

Hemsley is a trustee of the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota. [21] He is a member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America, the organization's governing body. [22]

References

  1. ↑ Murphy, Tom (August 16, 2017). "UnitedHealth CEO to step down after more than decade". MSN. Associated Press.
  2. ↑ Genovese, Daniella (May 13, 2025). "UnitedHealth Group names new CEO, shares slide". FOXBusiness. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  3. ↑ "UnitedHealth Group Announces Leadership Transition". www.unitedhealthgroup.com. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Stephen J. Hemsley". NNDB.
  5. 1 2 "Steve Hemsley". Health Evolution. Retrieved February 18, 2026.
  6. 1 2 Cargill. "UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen J. Hemsley elected to Cargill Board of Directors". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved February 18, 2026.
  7. ↑ "UnitedHealth Group Announces "Optum" Master Brand for Its Health Services Businesses | Fierce Pharma". www.fiercepharma.com. April 11, 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2026.
  8. ↑ Murphy, Andrea. "Forbes America's Top Private Companies 2025 List". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 12, 2026. Retrieved February 18, 2026.
  9. ↑ Tully, Shawn. "The Most Successful CEO of His Generation Steps Down". Fortune. Retrieved February 18, 2026.
  10. ↑ Mathews, Mark Maremont and Anna Wilde (February 17, 2026). "UnitedHealth Chief Made Private Side Bets on Healthcare Startups". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 18, 2026.
  11. ↑ Towfighi, John; Goldman, David (December 4, 2024). "Who was Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare fatally shot in Manhattan?". CNN . Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  12. ↑ "UnitedHealth chair, execs sold $102M in stock before DOJ probe became public". Crain's New York Business. April 16, 2024. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  13. ↑ Mulholland, Paul (December 11, 2024). "CalPERS Sued UnitedHealth for Insider Trading". www.psca.org. Retrieved February 18, 2026.
  14. ↑ Stephen Hemsley: Executive Profile & Biography Business Week
  15. ↑ "CEO Pay Watch: UnitedHealth's Stephen Hemsley made $31.3 million last year". Star Tribune. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  16. ↑ by Leslie Small, in FierceHealthcare April 24, 2016]
  17. ↑ Special Report on CEO Compensation Forbes
  18. ↑ HealthLeaders. "UnitedHealth CEO Stephen Hemsley was paid $102 million in '09". www.healthleadersmedia.com. Retrieved February 18, 2026.
  19. ↑ "#1 Stephen J Hemsley". Forbes. April 13, 2011.
  20. ↑ Tozzi, John; Swetlitz, Ike (June 2, 2025). "UnitedHealth Investors Back CEO's $60 Million Pay Package". Bloomberg . Retrieved June 3, 2025.
  21. ↑ Metzger, Kate (April 23, 2012). "St. Thomas Trustee Stephen Hemsley to Speak at First Friday Lunch May 4". Newsroom | University of St. Thomas. Retrieved February 18, 2026.
  22. ↑ Boy Scouts of America Annual Report 2011 Archived 2012-11-14 at the Wayback Machine
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