Steward CEO Makes $250 Million While Hospital Chain Collapses
Steward Healthcare’s chief executive in the US Ralph de la Torre netted at least $250 million in salary and bonuses while its hospitals collapsed, including the ones in Malta.
The Wall Street Journal reviewed bankruptcy documents which drew government scrutiny after de la Torre, the healthcare conglomerate’s majority shareholder, was summoned to testify as part of an investigation launched by a US Senate committee.
The $250 million in payments from Steward to its CEO and his businesses are based on public disclosures – most of which only covering the 12 months before it filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Some of the large sum was paid to de la Torre directly while other payments were to companies that did business with Steward where he had big ownership stakes.
De la Torre was the CEO of Steward, a major US healthcare conglomerate whose interests spread to Malta when it acquired a hospitals public-private partnership. The deal was annulled after it was ruled to be fraudulent and a magisterial inquiry resulted in money laundering charges against former government officials and Steward officials.
According to the Wall Street Journal, de la Torre owns a 190-foot, $40 million yacht and a 90-foot, $15 million sportfishing boat. He further owns a Dallas mansion valued at $7.2 million and paid at least $7.2 million in 2022 for a 500-acre ranch. Meanwhile, a Steward affiliate majority-owned by de la Torre owns two private jets valued at $95 million.
Steward has been trying to sell 30 hospitals it operated across eight American states and while the company has been busy shutting these hospitals down, de la Torre attended the Olympic equestrian events at the Palace of Versailles in France.
In 2021, Steward distributed $111 million to its shareholders, with de la Torre receiving about $81 million, reflecting his 73% ownership of the company.
By the close of that year, Steward was grappling with a $2 billion deficit, having incurred losses of $365 million in 2021 and $269 million in 2022, according to financial statements previously not made public and reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
In 2022, Steward sold a healthcare business to the publicly traded company CareMax for cash and stock, later transferring most of that stock—valued at $99 million—to a company owned by de la Torre.
Steward also made annual payments of $30 million to Management Health Services, a consulting firm majority-owned by de la Torre, which employed 16 individuals, including Steward executives, to provide management services. This firm owned two private jets, both of which were sold this year.
Additionally, a company called CREF, in which de la Torre held a 40% stake, was paid $37 million from May 2023 to May 2024 for providing real estate and facility management services.
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