LEGEND
Michael Neidorff
JOB TITLE : CEO COMPANY : CENTENE CORPORATION NET WORTH : US $ 574M
One of the most influential figures in US healthcare insurance , Michael Neidorff , 77 , is the CEO of Centene Corporation , the biggest provider of Medicaid in North America .
The Pennsylvania native grew up in the historic city of Altoona and from the get-go , showed great academic promise and drive .
In 1965 , Neidorff earned his bachelor ’ s degree in political science at Trinity University . He went on to study a masters degree in industrial relations at St Francis College the following year .
By the 1980s , Neidorff was fully immersed in the corporate world and healthcare having become a human resource executive and the director of international consumer products at Miles Laboratories , one of the best established treatment research centres of eye and nervous system conditions in the US .
Neidorff met his wife , Noemi , also an east coast native . The couple married and then moved to St Louis , where Neidorf started his first position in health insurance as president and chief executive
Donated over
US $ 30mn + to charity officer of Physicians Health Plan of Greater St . Louis .
But it wasn ’ t until 1995 that he entered the upper echelons of health insurance as a business , becoming the Chief Executive of Group Health Plan and Vice President of its parent company , Coventry Corp .
By 1996 Neidorff had moved again and joined Centene , then called Coordinated Care Corp ., as its CEO . His business acumen and market foresight led him to put Centene through its IPO in 2001 .
Since then , the company has expanded with incredible speed and success . In 1996 , Centene had just 40,000 covered members . Neidorff has led a huge expansion in the company and it now has over 12 million members across 28 states in the United States .
While he and his wife Noemi are ambassadors of St Louis and recently donated US $ 5mn to local health initiatives , Neidorff is not a controversy-free figure . In 2020 , Neidorff was criticised for earning US $ 4.7mn in bonuses in addition to his total yearly earnings of US $ 24.96mn , while simultaneously laying off 3000 workers .
A fan of the coast and the good life , Neidorff also has an impressive portfolio of Palm Beach properties to his name .
Neidorff and his wife had two children , a son and a daughter . Tragically , his daughter , Monica Lynne Neidorff , died in March this year aged 46 .
18 July 2021