Aflac’s leadership changes prompt the question: Has CEO Dan Amos’ successor been decided?
Aflac, the well-known supplemental insurance company headquartered in Columbus, will have leaders in new positions starting in 2025.
Approximately 2,900 of Aflac’s more than 12,000 employees work in Columbus, where brothers John, Paul and Bill Amos founded the company in 1955.
Paul’s son, Dan Amos, is chairman, CEO and president of Aflac Inc., but Aflac U.S. President Virgil Miller will have an expanded role as Aflac Inc. president, effective Jan. 1, the publicly traded company announced in a news release.
Amos, 73, has been CEO of Aflac Inc. for 34 years, the second-longest current tenure in the Fortune 250, according to Aflac. Warren Buffet, 94, has the longest current tenure with 54 years as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
Does this mean Dan Amos is retiring from Aflac?
Asked whether this promotion is part of Aflac preparing Miller to succeed Amos when he retires, company spokesman Jon Sullivan told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email Friday, “Dan joked just the other day at the Rotary Club that he will retire before he gets to Warren Buffet’s age but he has no plans to retire right now.”
Sullivan added, “Dan still loves the job, and given that during his tenure he has provided extraordinarily strong returns, I think shareholders appreciate his successful stewardship of the company as well.
“Clearly, Dan sees Virgil as an incredibly strong and charismatic leader, and he is pleased to have promoted him to a position where he will gain additional leadership experience throughout the entire enterprise in both the U.S. and Japan.”
Aflac’s other leadership promotions
Aflac also announced, effective Jan. 1, the promotions of Aflac Inc. executive vice president and general counsel Audrey Boone Tillman and Aflac Inc. executive vice president and chief financial officer Max Broden to roles of senior executive vice president.
Miller, Tillman and Broden will continue to report to Amos, who will remain as Aflac Inc. chairman and CEO.
Who is Aflac Inc.’s new President Virgil Miller?
Before joining Aflac 20 years ago, Miller served in the U.S. Marine Corps and is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, according to his bio on Aflac’s website. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Georgia College, a master’s degree in business management from Wesleyan College and a doctorate in humane letters from Gammon Theological Seminary.
Miller is a board member for PlanSource via Vista Equity Partners, America’s Health Insurance Plans, South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Institute of Medicine & Public Health and Claflin University. And, effective Jan. 1, he will be on the Georgia Power Board of Directors, Georgia Power announced Friday.
During his more than 30 years of experience in the industry, Miller has received several honors, including 2018 Executive of the Year for insurance by the American Business Association, Columbia Business Monthly’s 50 Most Influential Individuals (2019, 2020 and 2022) and Savoy’s 2020 Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America.
