The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Year

2. UnitedGreed

Longtime UnitedHealth (UNH Quote) CEO William McGuire didn't just lose his job this year. He also surrendered any shred of integrity.

McGuire, as fans have been quick to point out, took a struggling health insurer 15 years ago and turned it into a highly profitable industry leader. In the meantime, he used his job atop the Minnetonka, Minn., company as a pulpit to urge Americans to demand better and more efficient health care.

But McGuire's efforts on that front are likely to be forgotten now that he's been kicked out of UnitedHealth on account of his incredible greed. It came to light this spring that McGuire was sitting on some $1.6 billion worth of unexercised stock options -- a hoard that made a mockery of his claim to be looking out for society's less privileged.

What's more, it turned out that McGuire had overseen a company program that timed stock option grants to maximize holders' gains. And McGuire's manipulations didn't stop there. In September 1999, UnitedHealth announced McGuire and his right-hand man had signed long-term employment contracts. But an investigation found that those deals weren't finalized till almost three months later.

Lawyers probing the matter for UnitedHealth said McGuire told them he believes option grant dates "were selected without the benefit of hindsight." But, a report to UnitedHealth's board concluded, "certain facts run contrary to this assertion."

That seems to be a recurring theme with McGuire.