New WellCare Execs Have History of Sales

At the time of the bankruptcy, Bestwire reported, experts blamed poor management and risky acquisitions -- including the buyout of Berg's Health Partners -- for FPA's ultimate demise.

To be fair, Berg signed on as executive vice president at Oxford during a tough time for the company. Shortly before his arrival, Dow Jones reported, Oxford had suffered a second-half loss that wiped out all of the profits it had generated during its entire seven years as a publicly traded company.

However, with Wiggins gone and a turnaround CEO in charge, Oxford was poised for a rebound. Thus, Berg inherited a healthy company when he assumed the top post in late 2002.

Berg wasted no time looking for a suitor. Under his direction, Oxford hired an investment banking firm during the first half of 2003 and attracted interest from two different parties that very year.

By April of 2004, Oxford had made up its mind. The company passed over one offer --despite its higher price tag -- and accepted a deal with UnitedHealth instead. Notably, under the terms of that deal, Berg would continue to lead Oxford even as he pocketed more than $5 million worth of change-of-control "severance" pay. In fact, he would fill two positions -- serving as both division CEO and "chief integrating officer" -- and pick up generous compensation packages for both.

As part of that agreement, however, Berg agreed that he would not work for any UnitedHealth competitors for two years after his departure from the company. Yet, based on a recent bio published by WellCare, Berg assumed his current post at least seven months before his non-compete agreement is set to expire.

Certainly, if history is any guide, Berg could swiftly pursue a sale of WellCare, and Schiesser could be the perfect sidekick. After all, Schiesser has shown a willingness to step forward as CEO -- and walk away from any job -- as the need arises.

Still, Schiesser has learned firsthand that plenty of hard work lies ahead.

"Running a company is a dirty business," Schiesser told The IPO Reporter after taking charge of iExchange.com in mid-2000. "There's a lot of problems you can look at from afar that you wish would go away.

"But when you're on a management team," he concluded, "they're yours."

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