Leonard D. Schaeffer

Leonard D. Schaeffer is the founding Chairman and former CEO of WellPoint, the nation's largest health benefits company. WellPoint serves the health care needs of approximately 34 million medical members and has annualized revenues of over $44 billion.      

Schaeffer was Chairman and CEO of WellPoint from 1993 through 2004. He continued to serve as Chairman of WellPoint through 2005.  Under his leadership, WellPoint was selected by FORTUNE magazine as America's "Most Admired Health Care Company" for an unprecedented six consecutive years; named by BusinessWeek as one of the fifty best performing public companies for three consecutive years; and identified by Forbes magazine as America's best large health insurance company. Schaeffer was selected by BusinessWeek magazine as one of the "Top 25 Managers of the Year" and by Worth magazine as one of the "50 Best CEOs in America."        

Schaeffer was recruited to WellPoint's predecessor, Blue Cross of California, as President and CEO in 1986 when the not-for-profit company was near bankruptcy. He managed the turnaround of Blue Cross of California, the first Blue conversion to for-profit status and the IPO creating WellPoint in 1993. During his tenure as CEO, WellPoint made 17 acquisitions totaling over $4 billion and its value grew from $11 million in 1986 to a market capitalization of $19.6 billion in 2004.        

In 1996, Schaeffer led the recapitalization of WellPoint, which also created America's sixth largest philanthropy with an endowment of more than $4 billion. WellPoint subsequently increased the value of The Missouri Foundation for Health to nearly $1 billion, endowed a Georgia-based independent charitable foundation with more than $100 million and increased the value of the Wisconsin United for Health Foundation by approximately $500 million. The company also contributed over $130 million to the WellPoint Foundation which Schaeffer also chaired.        

Previously, Schaeffer was President and CEO of Group Health, Inc. of Minnesota, EVP and COO of the Student Loan Marketing Association and a Vice President of Citibank.      

In the federal government, he served as Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration (now CMS) and as Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget of the Department of Health and Human Services. Previously, Schaeffer was Director of the Bureau of the Budget for the State of Illinois and also served as Chairman of the Illinois Capital Development Board and as Deputy Director for Management, Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.    

Schaeffer is active on the boards of numerous businesses, philanthropic and professional organizations. A native of Evanston, Illinois, he is a graduate of Princeton University. Schaeffer and his wife, the former Pamela Sidford, have two children.