ARS TECHNICA – Newly revealed financial details bring yet more scrutiny to Steward Health Care System CEO Ralph de la Torre, a Harvard University-trained cardiac surgeon who, in 2020, took over majority ownership of Steward from the private equity firm Cerberus.
De la Torre and his companies were reportedly paid at least $250 million since that takeover. In May, Steward, which has hospitals in eight states, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy …
Alleged greed
For instance, de la Torre sold the land under the system’s hospitals to a large hospital landlord, Medical Properties Trust, leaving Steward hospitals on the hook for large rent payments.
Under de la Torre’s leadership, Steward also paid a management consulting firm $30 million a year to “provide executive oversight and overall strategic directive.”
But, de la Torre was the majority owner of the consulting firm, which also employed other Steward executives.
As the WSJ put it, Steward “effectively paid its CEO’s firm, which employed Steward executives, for executive management services for Steward.”
In 2021, while the COVID-19 pandemic strained hospitals, Steward distributed $111 million to shareholders. With de la Torre owning 73 percent of the company at the time, his share would have been around $81 million, the WSJ reported.
That year, de la Torre bought a 190-foot yacht for $40 million. He also owns a $15 million custom-made luxury fishing boat called Jaruco.
The Senate Help Committee, meanwhile, notes that a Steward affiliate owned two jets, one valued at $62 million and a second “backup” jet valued at $33 million.
In 2022, de la Torre got married in an elaborate wedding on Italy’s Amalfi Coast and bought a 500-acre Texas ranch for at least $7.2 million. His new wife, Nicole Acosta, 29, is a competitive equestrian who trains at a facility near the ranch.
She competes on a horse that was sold in 2014 for $3.5 million, though it’s unclear how much the couple paid for it. Besides the ranch, de la Torre, 58, owns an 11,108-square-foot mansion in Dallas valued at $7.2 million …
