A few weeks ago, we were blessed by a yearly event that has come to symbolize all that’s good and noble about the human spirit. United Health Group CEO William McGuire received his annual stock option grant. On Valentine’s Day, Minnesota’s best-paid executive notified the SEC that he has received an option for 650,000 shares of United Health Group stock. This tidy sum is a small token of the shareholders’ esteem and gratitude. Recently, the entire token of their esteem has been in the neighborhood of $50 million per year.
That’s a lot of tokenage, and we wondered: If McGuire actually had a heart, and it was infarcted, how many transplants could he afford? (In the absence of a heart, we guess it technically would be considered an implant.)—Jem Casey
McGuire’s Annual Income (2000–not including unvested options): $54 million
Average Cost of a Heart Transplant/Implant: $200,000
Number of Heart Transplants/ Implants possible per year for McGuire, paid in cash: 270
Number of major medical policies that could be issued for $54 million 45,000
Number of uninsured Americans 40 million
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