Who Owns Mutual of Omaha?

Dr. C.C. Criss, a physician, and his wife Mabel founded Mutual Benefit Health and Accident Association in Omaha, Nebraska, on March 5, 1909. The company sold affordable health and accident coverage to workers at a time when most Americans had no insurance of any kind.

V.J. Skutt joined in 1924 and became president in 1949. Under Skutt, the company renamed itself Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company in 1950, pioneered direct-mail and television marketing of insurance, and expanded nationally. When Medicare launched in 1966, Mutual of Omaha was among the first carriers to sell Medicare Supplement policies, a market where it remains a leading provider.

The television program Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom premiered in 1963, hosted by Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler. It ran until 1988 in first-run production and became one of the most recognized insurance sponsorships in American television history. The brand's lion-cub imagery from the show still appears in its marketing.

The company diversified into banking in the 2000s with Mutual of Omaha Bank, then exited, completing the sale of the bank to CIT Group in early 2020. It reorganized under a mutual holding company structure, placing its insurance carriers beneath Mutual of Omaha Financial Group.

Dan Neary became CEO in 2005 and resigned in February 2015 after the board learned of an extramarital relationship with a subordinate. James Blackledge succeeded him and has led the company as Chairman and CEO.

In 2019, the company returned to the Medicare Advantage market through a partnership with Lumeris, after a roughly two-decade absence. In October 2023, it revived the Wild Kingdom franchise with Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild on NBC, hosted by Peter Gros and Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant.

For 2025, the company reported $15.5 billion in revenue, up about 6%, and paid more than $8.6 billion in benefits to policyholders.