BETHESDA, MD: Wolf quits as Coventry Health CEO

Coventry Health Care Inc. President and CEO Dale Wolf resigned suddenly on Jan. 30 and former CEO and current board Chairman Allen Wise was named as his successor. Coventry Health didn't provide a reason for Wolf's departure. Wise was Coventry's president and CEO from 1996 through 2004 and served as its non-executive chairman from 2004 until Dec. 10, 2008, when he was named executive chairman. The company's shares fell nearly one-third in October after it announced third-quarter profit fell by half and it cut its forecast for 2008 full-year earnings sharply. The shares have not recovered since. Wolf joined Coventry in 1996 as chief financial officer and was promoted to CEO on Jan. 1, 2005.