The Cigna Group
Founders
Ebenezer Hazard, Samuel Blodget · Founded 1982 · HQ today: Bloomfield, Connecticut
Cigna was founded by Ebenezer Hazard, Samuel Blodget in 1982. It is now led by Brian Evanko.
Cigna's lineage starts in 1792, when Philadelphia merchants organized the Insurance Company of North America (INA), one of the first U.S. stock insurance companies, to cover marine and fire risk. Connecticut General Life Insurance Company was chartered in Hartford in 1865. The two combined in 1982 to form CIGNA Corporation, a name built from their initials. Cigna later sold its property and casualty business to ACE Limited in 1999 and focused on health and employee benefits.
Before INA, Hazard ran the colonial and then national postal system and compiled early American historical records.
Ebenezer Hazard, a former U.S. Postmaster General and historian, was among the Philadelphia organizers of the Insurance Company of North America in 1792 and served as its first secretary. INA is the oldest predecessor of The Cigna Group.
Prominent merchant and pioneer in American finance and insurance.
Samuel Blodget (1724-1807) was the instrumental founder of the Insurance Company of North America (INA) in 1792, which forms the 'I' in Cigna. Recognizing that the newly formed United States desperately needed its own domestic maritime insurance to protect merchant ships from piracy and storms (rather than relying on London), he gathered prominent Philadelphia businessmen in Independence Hall to charter the company, creating the first marine insurance company in America.
Brian Evanko
President and Chief Executive Officer
Evanko joined Cigna in 1998 through its actuarial development program, served as CFO, led Cigna Healthcare and was named president and COO in March 2025 before becoming CEO on July 1, 2026. He holds an actuarial science degree from Penn State and the FSA and CFA designations.
David M. Cordani
Executive Chair; former Chairman and CEO
Cordani joined Cigna in 1991 after working at Coopers & Lybrand, became president of Cigna HealthCare in 2005 and CEO in December 2009. Over his 17 years as CEO he led the Express Scripts acquisition, the Evernorth launch, the 2023 rename to The Cigna Group and the 2025 Medicare exit. He became executive chair when Evanko took over in July 2026.
The Cigna Group traces its oldest founding roots to November 1792, when a group of prominent Philadelphia merchants established the Insurance Company of North America (INA) in Independence Hall, becoming the first marine and fire insurance company in the United States.
John Maxwell Nesbitt, a prominent American merchant and patriot who helped finance George Washington's Continental Army, was elected the first President of the Insurance Company of North America (INA) in 1792.
Connecticut General Life Insurance Company was chartered in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1865.
INA paid claims after major 19th- and early 20th-century disasters, including the 1871 Chicago fire and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
In 1982 Connecticut General Corporation and INA Corporation merged to form CIGNA Corporation, named for their initials.
Following the 1982 merger, Cigna expanded aggressively into managed healthcare by acquiring regional HMOs and hospital networks, pioneering employee wellness plans and preferred provider organizations (PPOs) across the United States.
In 1999, Cigna sold its historic property and casualty insurance business (INA) to ACE Limited (now Chubb) for $3.45 billion, pivoting 100% of its corporate capital toward health services and employee benefits.
Cigna's lineage spans more than 230 years, from INA's 1792 founding in Philadelphia to today's Express Scripts and Cigna Healthcare businesses.
Cigna doesn't have a single modern founder. It is the result of the 1982 merger between INA (founded by prominent Philadelphia citizens in 1792 to insure merchant ships) and Connecticut General (founded in 1865 to insure Civil War soldiers).
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