Steward Healthcare CEO netted $250 million while US hospitals struggled - report
The chief executive of Steward Healthcare in the United States Ralph de la Torre netted at least $250 million in salary and bonuses over the past years, while its hospitals struggled with operations and paying their rents.This was revealed by the Wal
The chief executive of Steward Healthcare in the United States Ralph de la Torre netted at least $250 million in salary and bonuses over the past years, while its hospitals struggled with operations and paying their rents.
This was revealed by the Wall Street Journal through bankruptcy documents it saw, having now drawn government scrutiny after a U.S. Senate committee launched an investigation and summoned de la Torre to testify next month.
The report read that the CEO of the U.S healthcare company made a fortune while his hospital chain collapsed, including the ones in Malta.
The contract of the three hospitals was ruled to have been awarded fraudulently, and a criminal inquiry has led to fraud and money laundering charges against former government officials and Steward executives.
The report read that the $250 million in payments to de la Torre and his businesses from Steward are based on public disclosures.
The report read that Steward’s disclosures have covered only the 12 months in most cases, before it filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Some of the $250 million was paid to de la Torre directly, while other payments were to companies that did business with Steward where he had big ownership stakes.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that while Steward was busy shutting down its hospitals, as it tries to sell the 30 hospitals it operated in eight American states, de la Torre attended the Olympic equestrian events in France.
The WSJ report also said that de la Torre “owns a 190-foot, $40 million yacht and a 90-foot, $15 million sportfishing boat, according to the Senate committee. He owns an 11,108-square-foot Dallas mansion, valued at $7.2 million by the county. He paid at least $7.2 million in 2022 for a 500-acre ranch in Waxahachie, and two private jets that the same Senate committee valued at $95 million were owned by a Steward affiliate that is majority-owned by de la Torre.”
De la Torre became the majority shareholder in Steward in 2020 when the company’s private-equity owner, Cerberus Capital Management, transferred its 90% stake to a physician group he led, in exchange for a $350 million promissory note, the report showed.
He received $81 million out of the $111 million Steward distributed to shareholders in 2021, with him owning 73% of the company.
The WSJ also viewed previously undisclosed Steward financial statements, which showed that by the end of 2021, Steward had a $2 billion deficit, lost $365 million in 2021, and $269 million in 2022.
De la Torre also bagged $99 million to a company he owns after Steward sold a healthcare business it owned to CareMax, a public company, for cash and stock, the stock of which was transferred to his company.
The WSJ report also revealed that Steward made payments to a consulting firm, Management Health Services, majority-owned by de la Torre, at a rate of $30 million a year.
The firm employed 16 people, including Steward executives, for management services for Steward. The same company owned two private jets, both of which were sold this year.
The report revealed that another company that was 40% owned by de la Torre, CREF, was paid $37 million from May 2023 to May 2024.
Steward is being investigated by a federal grand jury in Boston, including whether it violated antibribery laws in a deal to run state-owned hospitals in Malta. The Maltese investigation has resulted in charges against former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and dozens of others.
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