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UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty unexpectedly steps down as insurer suspends financial outlook

UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty is resigning from his position for personal reasons, the insurance company announced on Tuesday. 

UnitedHealth also said that it would suspend its 2025 financial outlook due to higher-than-expected medical costs. The move to withhold guidance followed its first quarterly earnings miss in more than a decade.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

“Leading the people of UnitedHealth Group has been a tremendous honor as they work every day to improve the health system, and they will continue to inspire me,” Witty said in a statement. 

Witty was named UnitedHealth’s CEO in February 2021.

Stephen Hemsley was appointed as CEO “effective immediately,” the health care giant said Tuesday. Hemsley previously served as UnitedHealth CEO from 2006 to 2017. He will retain his role as chairman of the company’s board.

Shares of the Minnesota-based company have plunged since the death of former CEO Brian Thompson, who was shot and killed outside a hotel in midtown Manhattan in December. Thompson served as CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group, from April 2021 to his death.

The company’s shares fell $37.71, or nearly 10%, to $341.04, ahead of the start of trade. UnitedHealth is valued at $343.57 billion as of May 2025, according to CompaniesMarketCap. 

UnitedHealth said Tuesday that it suspended its 2025 outlook as medical costs of many Medicare Advantage beneficiaries new to UnitedHealthcare were higher than expected. The heightened amount of care was “far above the planned 2025 increase” UnitedHealth Group said in its 2025 first quarter results.

“To all stakeholders, including employees and shareholders, I’m deeply disappointed in and apologize for the performance setbacks we have encountered from both external and internal challenges,” Hemsley said during a conference call.

In December 2024, the death of Thompson plunged the heath insurance company into the national spotlight. The fatal shooting brought to the fore Americans’ discontent with the health care industry writ large. Many took to social media to air their frustrations about rising medical costs and claims being denied.

“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 in the company statement.

Witty openly acknowledged the flaws of the health care system in an op-ed written for the New York Times in December 2024, following the death of Thompson.

“We know the health system does not work as well as it should, and we understand people’s frustrations with it,” Witty wrote. “No one would design a system like the one we have.”

The Associated Press

contributed to this report.

Mary Cunningham

Mary Cunningham is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. Before joining the business and finance vertical, she worked at “60 Minutes,” CBSNews.com and CBS News 24/7 as part of the CBS News Associate Program.

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UnitedHealth sued by investors over its response after CEO’s killing

UnitedHealth Group is being sued by investors who claim the company misled them by allegedly withholding information on how the company was being affected by a backlash prompted by its response to the December killing of top executive Brian Thompson.

In the proposed class action lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Southern District of New York, investor Roberto Faller alleges UnitedHealth “artificially inflated prices” when the company initially forecast earnings per share of $29.50 to $30 in December. UnitedHealth then reaffirmed that outlook in January, despite mounting a backlash following an October Senate report on its high rate of claim denials and, later, the December killing of its CEO.

Faller’s complaint comes after UnitedHealth cut its 2025 forecast for adjusted profit per share to a lower range between $26 to $26.50. 

Attorneys argued that the company’s statements on performance expectations last year and earlier this year were “materially false and misleading” because UnitedHealth didn’t tell shareholders “it would have to adjust its strategy, which resulted in heightened denials compared to industry competitors.”

The complaint described UnitedHealthcare’s strategy as “aggressive, anti-consumer tactics.” The tactics were becoming “increasingly controversial,” the complaint said, especially after the death of former UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Though widely condemned, his killing also triggered an outpouring of public rage over health insurance costs and claims denials.

Following the lower performance forecast, UnitedHealth’s stock price sank last month by about $130 in its worst one-day performance in over 25 years.

“The magnitude of the April 17, 2025 drop was such that it caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to fall by 1.3%,” the counsel for Faller, who seeks to represent a class of investors, said in the complaint.

“As a result of Defendants’ wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in the market value of the Company’s securities, Plaintiff and other Class members have suffered significant losses and damages,” the complaint said.

The complaint asked a judge to certify it as a proper class action lawsuit, seeking unspecified damages for UnitedHealth investors from between Dec. 3, 2024, and April 16, 2025. The investors also named Chief Executive Andrew Witty and Chief Financial Officer John Rex as co-defendants in the complaint.

CBS News has reached out to UnitedHealth Group but it had no immediate comment.

Kierra Frazier

Kierra Frazier is a news editor for CBS News & Stations.

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