UnitedHealth Group announced a new CEO Tuesday, an unexpected change at the company that has been embroiled in chaos since the fatal shooting of then-CEO Brian Thompson in December.
Former CEO Andrew Witty stepped down for “personal reasons,” but did not provide further explanation. Stephen J. Hemsley was appointed as the new CEO effective immediately.
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Hemsley was the company’s CEO from 2006 to 2017. Witty will now serve as a senior adviser to Hemsley, according to a company news release.
“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 percent,” Hemsley said in a statement.
The change comes after UnitedHealthcare pulled its 2025 financial outlook due to higher-than-expected medical costs.
The company said in a statement that it pulled its annual outlook for 2025 in order to broaden it to include “more types of benefit offerings than seen in the first quarter” and because “the medical costs of many Medicare Advantage beneficiaries new to UnitedHealthcare remained higher than expected.”
“The company expects to return to growth in 2026,” the statement added.
The company is facing a lawsuit from a group of investors who allege that after Thompson was killed last year, the company did not promptly adjust its 2025 net earnings outlook to factor in the ramifications that the death would have on company operations.
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UnitedHealth Group’s shares were down around 10% on Tuesday morning. The stock is down just over 25% year to date.
Twenty-seven-year-old Luigi Mangione has been accused of killing Thompson. He pleaded not guilty to federal and state charges against him.