You’ve probably seen the name Sir Andrew Philip Witty pop up in the news recently, usually buried in a dry financial report or a chaotic headline about healthcare costs. Most folks just see another CEO in a suit. But honestly, if you look closer, Witty’s career is kinda like a high-stakes chess match played over four decades across two continents. It’s a story of massive gambles, a surprising amount of controversy, and a guy who keeps ending up at the center of global health crises.
Most people know him as the "UnitedHealth guy" or the former "GSK guy." That’s a start. But his path from a kid in Nantwich, England, to a knight of the realm running the biggest healthcare conglomerate on the planet is way more complicated than his LinkedIn profile suggests. It isn't just about spreadsheets.
The unexpected exit of Sir Andrew Philip Witty
Basically, the biggest shocker lately was his sudden departure from the top spot at UnitedHealth Group (UHG). In May 2025, Witty stepped down as CEO. It caught everyone off guard. He cited "personal reasons," which is the classic corporate catch-all, but the timing was brutal. The company was still reeling from the massive Change Healthcare cyberattack—one of those "one in two Americans affected" kind of disasters—and stock prices were acting like a rollercoaster with the brakes cut.
He didn't just walk away and disappear, though. He’s currently serving as a senior adviser to his successor, Stephen Hemsley. It’s a bit of a "back to the future" situation since Hemsley was the one who ran the place before Witty. Some analysts think Witty was the fall guy for a rough year involving high medical costs and regulatory heat. Others think he just had enough of the American corporate meat grinder.
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From trainee to knight
Andrew Philip Witty didn't start at the top. He joined Glaxo (back before it was GSK) in 1985 as a management trainee. Imagine that. The guy who would eventually be knighted for services to the UK economy started out just trying to figure out how the pharmaceutical supply chain worked. He spent years in the trenches in the UK, South Africa, and the US.
By the time he became CEO of GlaxoSmithKline in 2008, he had a reputation for being a "different" kind of pharma executive. He talked a lot about "fair pricing" and getting medicines to poor countries. He even got knighted in 2012. Sir Andrew Philip Witty sounded like a reformer.
But then, reality hit.
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His tenure at GSK wasn't all sunshine. There was that massive $3 billion settlement in the US over how drugs were marketed. Then there was the huge bribery scandal in China. Witty had to stand in front of the world and apologize, promising to fix a "broken" culture. It’s weird, right? He’s the guy trying to make pharma ethical while his company is getting slapped with record-breaking fines. It shows how hard it is to actually change these massive machines from the inside.
The UnitedHealth years and the COVID detour
After leaving GSK in 2017, Witty didn't retire to a quiet life of gardening in Buckinghamshire. He jumped across the pond. He took over Optum, the data and services arm of UnitedHealth Group, and by 2021, he was the big boss of the whole thing.
But wait—there was a weird gap. In 2020, he actually took an unpaid leave of absence from his massive corporate job to help the World Health Organization (WHO) co-lead the COVAX effort. Think about that. One of the highest-paid executives in the world decides to go work for free to help distribute COVID-19 vaccines globally.
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It’s one of those details that makes people scratch their heads about Sir Andrew Philip Witty. Is he a corporate shark or a global health saint? Honestly, he’s probably both. He understands that in the 21st century, you can’t run a healthcare business if the rest of the world’s health is falling apart.
What really happened at the end?
By 2024, Witty was making over $23 million a year. But the pressure was mounting. A leaked video once showed him talking about how the company's role is to ensure "appropriate" care—which many critics translated as "denying claims to save money." Then the 2026 Senate reports started coming out, accusing UHG of using "aggressive strategies" to squeeze more money out of Medicare Advantage.
It wasn't just numbers. It was personal. After the tragic murder of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s insurance arm in late 2024, Witty seemed genuinely shaken. He released a video talking about the "fragility of families." A few months later, he was gone.
Actionable insights from Witty's career
If you're looking at Sir Andrew Philip Witty's career for lessons, don't look at the money. Look at the pivots.
- Diversify your skill set: Witty went from pharma (making the pills) to insurance and data (paying for the pills). He realized early on that the money was moving toward data analytics.
- Crisis management is a core skill: Whether it was the China bribery scandal or the Change Healthcare hack, Witty's career was defined by how he handled the "oh crap" moments.
- Understand the "Double Bottom Line": You have to make money, but in health, you have to at least look like you’re helping people. Witty mastered the art of talking about global health while running a profit machine.
To stay updated on what Witty does next in his advisory role, keep an eye on UnitedHealth's quarterly filings or the board announcements at Imperial College London, where he still chairs the advisory board. His influence on the global health system is far from over.