Leavitt Sells Interest in Leavitt Group

Motivated by federal ethical standards, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt has divested his interests in two Utah-based, family owned corporations.

Because his agency oversees the insurance and animal health industries, Leavitt has had to sell his interests in The Leavitt Group, the 27th-largest insurance brokerage operation in the country, and cattle ranching operations.

The former Utah governor still owns between one-sixth and one-seventh of the family’s real estate investments held by Leavitt Land and Investments, The Leavitt Group’s CEO Dane Leavitt told The Deseret Morning News.

That includes the family’s Wayne County ranch, where Leavitt often vacationed with his family.

Leavitt’s combined interests in the cattle operations and the insurance company, which has part ownership in 90 insurance agencies in 13 states, has been valued at more than $5 million.

The family corporations are privately held by the six Leavitt brothers and their father, former state Sen. Dixie Leavitt, who started the insurance operations from the basement of the family’s Cedar City home, Dane Leavitt said. He added that Leavitt’s interests remain held by family members.

“There are no partners outside of the family,” he said.

The Leavitt Group went through a dramatic expansion under Mike Leavitt’s stewardship during the 1980s. The former governor has not held a management position in the family firms since resigning his governorship in November 2003 to become head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

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