UnitedHealth’s Chief Invested in Industry Startups, WSJ Reports

UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s chairman and chief executive officer, Stephen Hemsley, has invested in health-care startups for years, creating the potential for conflicts of interest, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Hemsley founded an investment firm, Cloverfields Capital Group LP, which directly or through affiliates bought stakes in closely held health-care startups, including one that did business with UnitedHealth and another that sold a competing product, the newspaper said.

The transactions involve tens of millions of dollars and go back at least seven years, according to the report.

Hemsley returned as CEO last year at a difficult ...