UnitedHealth Group selected Sir Andrew Witty, former CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, as CEO of Optum, effective July 1.
Here are four things to know about the appointment.
1. Mr. Witty will succeed Larry Renfro as CEO of Optum, which is UnitedHealth's health services platform. Optum includes solutions for population health management, care delivery and clinical and operational improvement.
2. Mr. Renfro, vice chair of UnitedHealth and CEO of Optum, will transition to lead UnitedHealth's enterprise growth efforts and Optum Ventures' investment initiatives. He'll manage a new $100 million global fund that aims to advance technology, data analytics and healthcare services companies.
3. Mr. Witty joined UnitedHealth's board of directors in August 2017, but will vacate the position effective immediately in light of his new role at Optum.
4. Mr. Witty joined GSK in 1985, serving as CEO and director from 2008 until 2017. He is the exiting chancellor of the University of Nottingham, a British public research university. He was knighted in 2012 for services to the U.K. economy.
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