The Sedgwick family has suffered a tremendous loss with the recent passing of our esteemed founder, Robert “Bob” Young, at the age of 83.  

Bob’s transformational impact on the insurance industry cannot be overstated. Far ahead of his time when he founded a small third-party administration firm in California in 1969, Bob innately understood that claims are really at the heart of the insurance business—and behind every claim is a real person facing unforeseen challenges and complexities.  

His visionary approach paved the way for the evolution of the claims business from the “back office” end of insurance into its own specialized area of study and professional practice. Bob had a deep-seated passion for helping customers and taking care of colleagues.

Sedgwick would not be the company it is today without Bob, and I too would not be the person I am today. Prior to his retirement in 1996, Bob took me under his wing for a full year to show me the ins and outs of the business he worked so hard to build. One of the greatest honors of my career was the day he selected me as his mentee and successor. 

Of all the lessons I learned from Bob, the one I’ll always cherish most is his focus on people. He taught me that, no matter the size of our company, we must always take good care of our colleagues, and they in turn will take excellent care of our customers. That was Bob’s core philosophy, and it’s one that we at Sedgwick haven’t veered away from in more than 50 years.

In addition to being a visionary business leader, Bob was also a golf enthusiast, a dog lover and an avid reader. I will miss his wit, his insights, his passion and, most especially, his mentorship and friendship.   

Sedgwick’s culture of caring began with Bob more than five decades ago, and his legacy lives on in our 27,000 colleagues around the world who every day make difficult situations easier. 

Sedgwick’s press announcement of Bob Young’s passing is available here.