10 Things You Didn’t Know about Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini

Mark Bertolini is the head of Aetna, which is a corporation that sells health insurance plans as well as a number of related products. He became CEO in November of 2010 and then Chairman in April of 2011. As a result, Bertolini is an influential figure in the health care sector, seeing as how he oversees a corporation with revenues measured in the tens of billions. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Mark Bertolini:

1. Mark Comes from Marcus

Mark comes from Marcus, which was a Roman personal name called the praenomen. The exact meaning of Marcus is unclear, but it is believed to be connected to the Roman god of war Mars in some manner. As a result, potential meanings range from “war-like” to “consecrated to the war god.”

2. Bertolini Means Bright Ruler

Bertolini is believed to be a diminutive of the name Bertoldo. In turn, Bertoldo is believed to be the Italian version of the German Berthold. Said name has two components, which translate to something along the lines of “bright ruler.”

3. Studied at Wayne State University

For his Bachelor’s degree, Bertolini studied at Wayne State University, which can be found in the city of Detroit in the state of Michigan. Said school is the third-biggest in the state of Michigan as well as one of the biggest in the United States as a whole, which is why it has a role of some importance when it comes to research.

4. Studied at Cornell University

As for his MBA, Bertolini went to Cornell University. To be exact, he went to the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, which is named for a businessman of the same name. This happened because Johnson’s family donated $20 million to the school as a way of honoring him, which was the biggest such gift to a business school at the time that it was made.

5. Has Been in the Healthcare Sector for Some Time

Bertolini wasn’t a part of Aetna until 2003. Before that, he had been in the healthcare sector for some time. For proof, look no further than the fact that he has had executive positions at a number of other healthcare companies such as Cigna and SelectCare.

6. Became Head of Specialty Products

In 2003, Bertolini joined Aetna at the head of the segment responsible for what are called specialty products. However, it wasn’t long until Bertolini managed to make his way to the position of President at the corporation, which came with the responsibility of overseeing the entire range of its products and services.

7. Got into a Serious Skiing Accident

In 2004, Bertolini got into a serious skiing accident. Said accident had lingering effects, which is why Bertolini started looking into alternate healing methods. Something that has had a lasting impact on him as well as how he runs the business that he is in charge of.

8. Has Spoken Out about Contemplating Suicide

The accident left Bertolini with serious pain, which was so bad that he considered committing suicide at one point in time because his quality of life had seen such a dramatic decrease. According to him, he was sitting in his car thinking about driving it into a bridge when a police officer came up to him, who proceeded to confiscate both his keys and his driver’s license before driving him home when said officer realized exactly what he was thinking.

9. He Married His Therapist

Later, one of Bertolini’s friends suggested that he try craniosacral therapy, which is an alternate healing method that essentially sees the practitioner applying light touches to the patient’s cranium, spine, and pelvic bones. For whatever reason, carniosacral therapy seemed to have had a positive effect on Bertolini’s condition, as shown by how he was off of the drugs that he was taking for his condition within six months. Curiously, Bertolini later married his craniosacral therapist, who proceeded to introduce him to yoga.

10. Huge Proponent of Meditation

Due to yoga, Bertolini became interested in meditation as well. Nowadays, he is famous for being a proponent of meditation in not just his personal life but also his professional life. In fact, Bertolini was the one who recommended yoga and meditation classes for the personnel at Aetna, which have had a positive impact on their stress levels.