David Wichmann United-Health Group
Chief executive
Total compensation: $21,466,890 for the year ended 2018
Salary: $1,300,000
Nonequity incentive pay: $5,390,600
Other compensation: $316,330
Value realized on vesting shares: $14,459,960
Options exercised: $0
New stock options: 65,418
Median employee pay: $57,412
CEO pay ratio: 316:1
Total 2018 shareholder return: 15%
Note: David Wichmann's first year as CEO brought an increase in salary, nonequity incentive pay and other compensation. But Wichmann's total compensation during the year of nearly $21.5 million was down considerably from 2017 when he cashed in stock options from previous years and saw total compensation of $83.2 million, according to the Star Tribune's method for calculating pay.
Wichmann became CEO in September 2017, when previous CEO Stephen Hemsley retired and became executive chairman at UnitedHealth Group. Hemsley's total pay for 2018 was $65.6 million, driven by exercised stock options and vested stock awards from previous years.
In 2018, Wichmann's pay as reported to regulators — which includes a projection for the future value of stock-based compensation granted during the year — came in at $18.1 million. That was about 316 times the median employee compensation of $57,412, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Christopher Snowbeck
