- William W. McGuire
William W. McGuire M.D. was the CEO of
UnitedHealth Group Inc. from 1992 until1 December 2006 (see section "Resignation" below). He attended theUniversity of Texas-Austin and is a member ofLambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.Options Backdating Investigations and Lawsuits
In 2006, the
Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating the conduct of United Health's management and directors, including Dr. McGuire, as did theInternal Revenue Service and prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, who have subpoenaed documents from the company.The investigations came to light after a series of probing stories in the "
Wall Street Journal " in May 2006, discussing the apparent backdating of hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of stock options — in a process calledoptions backdating — by UHG management. The backdating apparently occurred with the knowledge and approval of the directors, according to the "Journal". Major shareholders have filed lawsuits accusing formerNew Jersey governorThomas Kean and United Health's other directors of failing in their fiduciary duty. [ [http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_28/b3992075.htm "A Board With Its Back To The Wall: UnitedHealth directors aren't ready to oust embattled CEO McGuire. Here's why"] , "Business Week", July 10, 2006] [Loren Steffy, [http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/4318193.html "How William McGuire earned that fat paycheck"] , "Houston Chronicle" newspaper, November 7, 2006]Resignation
On
15 October 2006 , it was announced that McGuire would step down immediately as chairman and director of United Health, and step down as CEO on 1 December 2006 due to his involvement in the employee stock options scandal. Simultaneously, it was announced that he would be replaced as CEO by Stephen Hemsley, who has served as President and COO and is a member of the board of directors [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061015/ap_on_bi_ge/unitedhealth_ceo] . McGuire's exit compensation fromUnitedHealth , expected to be around $1.1 billion, would be the largestgolden parachute in the history ofcorporate America [http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/4318193.html] .McGuire's Settlement With SEC
On
6 December 2007 , the SEC announced a settlement under which McGuire will repay $468 million, as a partial settlement of the backdating prosecution. Legal actions filed by the SEC against United Health Care itself are still pending. [ [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071207/ap_on_bi_ge/unitedhealth_options;_ylt=AuCMgfPkc_LObP55Hz1fUmOs0NUE] Associated Press via Yahoo News]References
External links
* [http://www.forbes.com/static/pvp2005/LIRRI3M.html William W. McGuire]
* [http://www.newsmeat.com/ceo_political_donations/William_McGuire.php William W. McGuire's federal campaign contributions]
* [http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=1&subID=862 Backdating of stock options explained]
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