UnitedHealth Group is giving its returning CEO Stephen Hemsley $60 million in equity, in addition to a $1 million annual salary. Why it matters: Hemsley stepped down from his role as CEO in 2017 after more than a decade,

Stephen Hemsley ran UnitedHealth Group for more than a decade. It's a different company after four years with Andrew Witty in charge.

UnitedHealth has faced several headwinds in the recent past, ranging from a cyberattack, which had greater than initially realized impacts, to the tragic killing of its CEO, which caused the company to suffer harsh public backlash over the company's and industry practices.

Former CEO and current chairman Stephen Hemsley is stepping back into the top job following the abrupt resignation of Andrew Witty, UnitedHealth said.

UnitedHealth Group revealed on Tuesday that its CEO Andrew Witty is stepping down due to personal reasons. Witty would remain a senior advisor as he is replaced by former CEO and longtime company leader Stephen Hemsley, who has been board chair since 2017.

Even UnitedHealth will struggle to overcome parasitic medical costs that Warren Buffett once called a tapeworm eating away at U.S. economic competitiveness. The $300 billion healthcare conglomerate reinstalled Chairman Stephen Hemsley as CEO and yanked its financial guidance.

Robyn Denholm has earned five times as much as UnitedHealth Group's Stephen Hemsley, the next non-executive chair most prone to liquidating stock.

UnitedHealth just made a surprising move, bringing back a familiar face to fix what’s been a rough year.