Dirk McMahon, chief operating officer at UnitedHealth Group, will retire on April 1, the company disclosed in a financial filing.
McMahon joined the healthcare giant in 2003 and has served in multiple roles across the company before becoming chief operating officer in 2021. He is a prominent face at the top of UHG, alongside CEO Andrew Witty and Chief Financial Officer John Rex.
Before taking on the COO role, McMahon served as the CEO of UnitedHealthcare beginning in 2019 and prior to that was the chief operating officer for Optum. Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, helmed worldwide airport operations for Northwest Airlines.
"After more than 20 years of dedicated and distinguished service, Dirk McMahon has shared his plans to retire from UnitedHealth Group at the end of March," UnitedHealth Group said in a statement to Fierce Healthcare. "In his three years as president and chief operating officer, McMahon helped the people of UnitedHealthcare and Optum consistently deliver strong, market-leading growth and performance, while continuing to build the consumer, clinical and technological capabilities the organization needs to deliver on its mission and bring value-based care to millions more people across the health system."
"We are grateful for his service and wish him the very best in his retirement," the company added.
Under the watch of Witty, McMahon and Rex, the company has continued to build out the capabilites at Optum, particularly at the Optum Health segment. At the end of 2023, UnitedHealth reported $371.6 billion in revenue and $22.4 billion in profit, and it consistently outpaces its peers on profitability.
In the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, UnitedHealth said that McMahon "has met the definition of retirement set forth in his previously granted equity awards, which will continue to vest in accordance with their terms, similar to equity awards granted to other employees."
A transition plan or a successor were not announced.