WellPoint chief executive Angela F. Braly, who orchestrated several sizable deals in recent months, abruptly resigned on Tuesday, amid mounting pressure from shareholders.
Under the guidance of Ms. Braly, WellPoint has been one of the industry's most active deal makers.
In a bid to expand WellPoint's business, Ms. Braly, who assumed the top spot in 2007, has pursued several big transactions in the past year, including the $800 million purchase of CareMore and the more recent takeover of 1-800-Contacts. In July, Ms. Braly also signed her largest transaction to date, the $4.9 billion acquisition of Amerigroup, as WellPoint looked to take advantage of the expansion of the healthcare coverage under President Obama.
But it wasn't enough to appease shareholders, who have been frustrated by the health insurer's sagging stock price and weak financial performance. In the most recent quarter, the insurance company's profits fell about 8 percent to $643.6 million, f rom the year ago period. Sales also came in a below analyst expectations.
Even as the company shakes up its management, the board remains committed to its deal-making efforts.
“Our Board continues to believe that time will prove the wisdom of potentially transformative actions taken under Angela's leadership, from the sale of the pharmacy benefit management business to Express Scripts to the recent and proposed acquisitions of CareMore, 1-800-CONTACTS and Amerigroup,†said Jackie M. Ward, the board's lead director, said in a statement. “But now is the right time for a leadership change.â€
WellPoint said the company's general counsel, John Cannon, will serve as interim C.E.O., while the board's search committee vets internal and external candidates. The company also named Ms. Ward to the role of non-executive chair. On Tuesday, the company said Mr. Cannon would now “lead our most important initiative, which is the completion of the Amerigroup transa ction.â€
