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An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

NewslettersCEO Daily

UnitedHealth Group has an unusual new CEO pay package

Diane Brady
By
Diane Brady
Diane Brady
Executive Editorial Director
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Diane Brady
By
Diane Brady
Diane Brady
Executive Editorial Director
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 30, 2025, 5:49 AM ET
UnitedHealth Group's returning CEO, Stephen Hemsley, during his previous term as chief executive in 2012.
UnitedHealth Group's returning CEO, Stephen Hemsley, during his previous term as chief executive in 2012.Jonathan Alcorn—Bloomberg via Getty Images
  • In today’s CEO Daily: Geoff Colvin on UnitedHealth Group’s controversial CEO pay package.
  • The big story: U.S.-China trade talks stall.
  • The markets: Mixed in the face of tariff uncertainty.
  • Analyst notes from UBS, Deutsche Bank, and Macquarie.
  • Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.

Good morning. Geoff Colvin writing today. It has been quite a year for UnitedHealth Group (UHG)—and now in addition to myriad other troubles, UHG is adding a controversial CEO pay package to its plate. 

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The giant healthcare concern has seen an unprecedented loss of value recently. UHG is America’s largest healthcare company, No. 3 on the Fortune 500, but in April it reported a surprisingly terrible first-quarter performance. The stock price plunged, then kept plunging for weeks. CEO Andrew Witty resigned abruptly for unspecified personal reasons, and the board chairman, Stephen Hemsley, took over as CEO.

Hemsley, who turns 73 in June, will be trying to rescue the colossus he helped build as CEO from 2006 to 2017. While investors might have expected he would hold the job only until a new CEO is found, Hemsley and the board have other ideas. The highly unusual pay package they created for him shows how.

He will get a base salary of $1 million a year—big money but actually below the usual salary for CEOs of such large companies. More importantly, he would get a one-time $60 million grant of stock options, with a twist: He would get the payoff only if he remains CEO for three years. He would get no other stock-based awards in that period.

Shareholders will get to vote on that unconventional pay plan at UHG’s June 2 annual meeting. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), the largest firm that advises major shareholders on how to vote, advises they vote No. They cite a lack of performance criteria and the fact that the stock is so beaten down he might get a windfall for a mere share price rebound.

UHG struck back, sending shareholders an explanation of what ISS allegedly missed and why they should vote for Hemsley’s pay package. Bottom line, Hemsley and UHG will probably get the pay package they negotiated. ISS’s recommendations are taken seriously, but shareholders usually vote in favor of management.

Even if UHG loses the vote, which companies must hold by law, the result is non-binding and advisory only; the board of directors could simply ignore the shareholders’ wishes. In addition, UHG notes that ISS’s main competitor, Glass Lewis, is recommending shareholders vote in favor of Hemsley’s pay package. 

Regardless of the outcome, the contested vote will be significant. It will raise the already high stakes for UHG, its directors, and for Hemsley.

More news below.

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com

TOP NEWS

E.l.f. on how to warn consumers of price increases

E.l.f. Beauty CEO Tarang Amin told Fortune that customers were “quite positive” about the beauty company’s announcement that they would raise prices due to tariffs. “We’re not trying to pull anything over on anyone. This is exactly what we’re facing, and they understand,” Amin told Fortune.

Kohl’s reports earnings

Kohl’s reported losses per share and a loss in net sales for Q1 on Thursday, though both metrics weren’t as bad as Wall Street’s more pessimistic expectations. This was the retailer’s first earnings report since it fired CEO Ashley Buchanan in early May for violating company policies.

Trump got his tariffs back (for now)

A federal appeals court allowed the Trump administration to continue collecting tariffs under an emergency powers law for now, as his administration appeals a federal court order striking down the bulk of the president's signature set of levies.

U.S.-China trade talks stall

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that negotiations between the United States and China are “a bit stalled” and may need to be resuscitated with a call between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Two weeks ago the countries agreed to back down from tariff rates that constituted an effective trade embargo. 

SEC drops Binance lawsuit

The SEC dropped its lawsuit against Binance and its billionaire founder Changpeng Zhao (aka "CZ"). Under the crypto-friendly Trump administration, it's the agency’s latest move to wind down Biden-era enforcement actions against the industry. CZ is seeking a pardon from Trump after spending four months in prison.

Ryanair CEO's big payday

After shares of the low-cost airline closed above €21 for the 28th consecutive calendar day yesterday, CEO Michael O’Leary became eligible for a €100-million ($114 million) bonus. It will be one of the biggest payouts for European public company executives in recent years.

Wall Street's 'Big, Beautiful' worry

Wall Street read through Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" and now is warning that a provision in the bill that allows the government to raise taxes on foreign investments in the U.S. could upend markets and hurt American industry. "This is a market-spooking event," one investor told the Financial Times.

The markets

  • The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Thursday. The index is up 0.5% YTD. 
  • S&P futures were trading down 0.1% this morning. 
  • The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.6% in early trading. 
  • Asia was down: Japan was off 1.2%. Hong Kong also fell 1.2%. Shanghai was down 0.5%, and India’s Nifty 50 was off 0.2%.
  • May flowers: Barring a massive collapse today, U.S. markets are set to close May with strong gains. The S&P 500 is up some 6% for the month, while the Nasdaq has jumped 10% in the same period, and the Dow has risen about 4%.
  • Bitcoin was sitting up at $105,100 this morning.

From the analysts 

  • UBS on tariff uncertainty: "There is yet more uncertainty in the US economy. US President Trump appealed the ruling that their trade taxes were illegal. While this is decided, the taxes stay. There are thus three layers of uncertainty. Will the taxes survive? If they are illegal, will US companies and consumers get refunds? And are trade taxes today actually being collected? There is also uncertainty around how US companies will react to this uncertainty, especially with pricing," per Paul Donovan.
  • Deutsche Bank on rate cuts: "Trade wasn't the only game in town yesterday though with data moving markets as much as the trade headlines, and more so in the case of bonds. In particular, there was a notable bond rally after the weekly jobless claims were higher than expected, as that raised hopes that the Fed were still on track to cut rates this year. Initial claims rose to 240k in the week ending May 24 (vs. 230k expected)…  Moreover, the updated Q1 GDP release saw the annualized pace of personal consumption growth revised to its lowest in seven quarters (+1.2% vs +1.7% initial), while pending home sales for April saw their biggest monthly fall since September 2022. So that immediately led investors to price in more rate cuts this year," per Jim Reid.
  • Macquarie unintended tariff consequences: "While seeking to abolish the broad-based reciprocal tariffs and the 'retaliatory' tariffs, the ruling by the US's Court of Int'l Trade yesterday may actually accelerate new, more rationalized, sector-based tariffs, and so more tariff 'surprises' may lay around the corner. There's also a judicial appeals process to come, which may overturn the CIT's ruling. Because of this, we caution against excessive displays of 'relief', especially in the USD," per Thierry Wizman et al.

AROUND THE WATERCOOLER

Palmer Luckey and Mark Zuckerberg ended their bitter feud to bolster Silicon Valley’s new love affair with the military market by Jessica Mathews

Meet the 35-year-old tech exec helping chart DoorDash’s future—after a rapid rise to become of Amazon’s youngest female VPs ever by Jason Del Rey

Nvidia CEO reveals the person who will replace you thanks to AI—he warns, ‘every job will be affected, and immediately’ by Preston Fore

Private markets are a hot new sector for retail investors. What to know before you dive in by Alicia Adamczyk

Binance scores big win after SEC agrees to drop lawsuit against exchange by Ben Weiss

Correction: Yesterday’s edition of CEO Daily inaccurately stated that Macy’s, as part of its Reimagine 125 strategy, is closing all of its stores besides the 125 most popular locations. The company is closing some locations but will have 350 stores once the Reimagine 125 campaign is over.

CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams and Ian Mount.

This is the web version of CEO Daily, a newsletter of must-read global insights from CEOs and industry leaders. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.
About the Author
Diane Brady
By Diane BradyExecutive Editorial Director
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Diane Brady writes about the issues and leaders impacting the global business landscape. In addition to writing Fortune’s CEO Daily newsletter, she co-hosts the Leadership Next podcast, interviews newsmakers on stage at events worldwide and oversees the Fortune CEO Initiative. She previously worked at Forbes, McKinsey, Bloomberg Businessweek, the Wall Street Journal, and Maclean's. Her book Fraternity was named one of Amazon’s best books of 2012, and she also co-wrote Connecting the Dots with former Cisco CEO John Chambers.

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