What You Need to Know
- R. Philip Bixby is a great-grandson of an early Kansas City Life president, and a grandson and nephew of two other company presidents.
- He plans to keep the chairman title.
- The company continues to be a significant midsize writer of life and annuity products.
Kansas City Life Insurance Co. announced Tuesday that it plans to name a new CEO April 25.
R. Philip Bixby — the Kansas City, Missouri-based company’s longtime chairman, president CEO — said he plans to give up the CEO and president posts.
Kansas City Life was founded in 1895. R. Philip Bixby is the great-grandson of J.B. Reynolds, who served as Kansas City Life’s president from 1904 through 1937 and turned the company into a major insurance provider.
Bixby is also the grandson of W.E. Bixby Sr., who was Kansas City Life’s president from 1939 to 1964, and the nephew of Joseph Bixby, who was president from 1964 to 1998.
R. Philip Bixby has been working for Kansas City Life since 1977. He took over as the company’s president in 1998. He became chairman in 2004, when his uncle died.