A top-ranking MetLife Inc. executive widely viewed as a
potential successor to Chief Executive Steven Kandarian is retiring
this summer, likely sparking speculation about who might be in the
running in the next few years.
The giant insurer announced that William Wheeler, president of
its big Americas division representing most of its earnings, will
leave in August. Mr. Wheeler, 53 years old, has had a 17-year
career at MetLife, the nation's biggest life insurer by assets.
Mr. Wheeler was a contender for the top job in 2011 when Mr.
Kandarian was tapped as president and CEO. After Mr. Wheeler was
bypassed, the board approved "special" compensation to retain him
and another senior executive in the horse race. At the time, Mr.
Wheeler was the company's chief financial officer.
Each of the two bypassed executives was awarded tens of
thousands of shares that would be worth millions of dollars if they
stayed three years. The other executive was William J. Mullaney,
then-president of MetLife's U.S. business, who departed in late
2011.
Mr. Wheeler said in the company's news release Monday that "the
timing is right for me to retire and pursue other interests."
Mr. Kandarian recently turned 63 years old. While Mr.
Kandarian's predecessor, C. Robert Henrikson, stepped down as he
was about to turn 65, "the company's policy of age 65 retirement
can be waived by the board at its discretion," a person familiar
with the matter said. "While change at the senior executive level
typically raises questions about CEO succession, there is no
specific timetable for succession at MetLife, " the person
said.
After being bypassed for the top job, Mr. Wheeler was named
president of the Americas group in an overhaul of the company's
organizational structure to reflect its acquisition of an
international life-insurance business from American International
Group Inc.
In announcing Mr. Wheeler's departure Monday, Mr. Kandarian said
in the release that the executive would stay on to help with a
transition while "we will be reassessing the right structure and
leadership for the Americas division." Mr. Wheeler "took on some of
our biggest challenges" in restructuring the company's U.S. retail
business and leading an acquisition of a Chilean pension business,
and "has driven solid financial and operational performance," Mr.
Kandarian said.
Mr. Wheeler was the second most-highly compensated executive in
2014 at MetLife, behind Mr. Kandarian. He earned total pay of $6.7
million in 2014, down slightly from $7 million in 2013, according
to the proxy filing.
Of the compensation decline for Mr. Wheeler, the proxy said:
"The Americas business, while delivering solid performance against
plan for 2014, had very strong results in 2013. As a result, Mr.
Wheeler's annual cash incentive award for 2014 is lower than his
2013 award. This 2014 award provides meaningful recognition of
these solid 2014 results and maintains market competitiveness."
Write to Leslie Scism at leslie.scism@wsj.com
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