John Prince, who spent nearly two decades in executive roles at Optum before moving into healthcare private equity, died June 28. He was 59.
Mr. Prince died in Vero Beach, Fla., after a battle with cancer, according to his obituary.
He first joined UnitedHealth in 2005, taking on a series of finance and operations leadership roles within Optum, including CFO, COO and chief of operations. He was named CEO of Optum Rx in 2017, a post he held until 2021. During that time, the pharmacy benefits business grew revenue by more than $30 billion and expanded to serve more than 65 million members.
From 2021 to 2023, he served as president and COO of Optum, where he oversaw the nation’s largest physician network and served more than 103 million customers during that tenure. Mr. Prince’s obituary credited him with modernizing Optum’s digital, cloud and technology platforms, as well as its go-to-market strategy.
He is also credited with playing a key role in Optum’s founding, helping establish the strategic and financial foundation for what grew into a business that generated more than $270 billion in revenue in 2025.
After leaving Optum in 2023, Mr. Prince became an operating partner at Advent International and a senior advisor at TPG, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also served on the board of directors of Claritev, formerly MultiPlan.
Before joining UnitedHealth, he served as senior vice president and head of healthcare business development strategy at JPMorgan Chase.
Mr. Prince held a bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics from Northwestern University and an MBA from the university’s Kellogg School of Management.
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