Andrew Witty, chief executive officer of UnitedHealth Group Inc., during a Senate Finance Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on May 1, 2024. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg
Six months after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed on a Manhattan sidewalk, UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty, 60, is resigning for “personal reasons,” effective immediately. The health insurer, which has had a tough year overall since the killing, also suspended its 2025 outlook, as medical costs of many Medicare Advantage beneficiaries new to UnitedHealthcare were higher than expected.
Witty, who became CEO of UnitedHealth in 2021, dramatically announced his resignation today, after the firm reported a poor financial outlook in its 2025 forecast and after the company was sued by a group of investors over misleading forecasts following the CEO’s death last week. Witty and CFO John Rex were named as codefendants in the lawsuit.
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In the lawsuit, investor Robert Faller alleged that UnitedHealth artificially inflated prices when the company initially forecast earnings per share of $29.50 to $30 in December. It repeated that forecast in January despite an earlier Senate report about the company’s high rate of claim denials.
In April, the company’s shares fell 22.4% on April 17, wiping out about $119 billion of market value, after the insurer cut its 2025 forecast for adjusted profit to between $26 and $26.50 per share. Witty largely blamed federal policy changes and said UnitedHealth was urgently working to fix the problems, but it was the company’s biggest one-day stock fall in more than a quarter-century.
Witty will be replaced by Stephen Hemsley, 72, who will return to running the health care giant he helped build. Hemsley joined UnitedHealth Group in 1997 and served as CEO in 2006 to 2017. He became Board chair in 2017. Hemsley will remain chairman, as Witty will remain in a limited role as a senior adviser to Hemsley.
“We are grateful for Andrew’s stewardship of UnitedHealth Group, especially during some of the most challenging times any company has ever faced …,” Hemsley said. “UnitedHealth Group has tremendous opportunities to grow as we continue to help improve health care and to perform to our potential — and, in so doing, return to our long-term growth objective of 13 to 16%.”
Witty managed the crisis after Thompson was assassinated outside the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan in 2024 by Luigi Mangione, where a company conference was set to begin. The public killing, which authorities say was motivated by outrage with the health care system in the U.S., sparked a national uproar over insurance coverage and company profits. At a Congressional hearing in January, Witty pledged to fix the health care industry, while also defending UnitedHealthcare.
Related: UnitedHealth faces investor lawsuit over alleged misleading forecasts following CEO death
UnitedHealth has also suspended its 2025 outlook as care activity continued to accelerate while also broadening to more types of benefit offerings than seen in the first quarter, and the medical costs of many Medicare Advantage beneficiaries new to UnitedHealthcare remained higher than expected, according to a release. The company expects to return to growth in 2026.
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Lynn Cavanaugh
Lynn Varacalli Cavanaugh is Senior Editor, Retirement at BenefitsPRO. Prior, she was editor-in-chief of the What's New in Benefits & Compensation newsletter. She has worked for major firms in the employee benefits space, Vanguard and Willis Towers Watson, as well as top media companies, including Condé Nast and American Media.
