New York Life Insurance Co.’s longtime chief executive, Ted Mathas, will hand over the reins of the 176-year-old company in April to current president Craig DeSanto.

Mr. Mathas, who has served as CEO for nearly 14 years, will remain chairman of the board in a nonexecutive capacity for a transition period.

New York Life is one of the nation’s...

New York Life Insurance Co.’s longtime chief executive, Ted Mathas, will hand over the reins of the 176-year-old company in April to current president Craig DeSanto.

Mr. Mathas, who has served as CEO for nearly 14 years, will remain chairman of the board in a nonexecutive capacity for a transition period.

New York Life is one of the nation’s largest life insurers with more than $700 billion in assets under management and a fleet of about 13,000 life-insurance agents. The company is a “mutual,” which means it is owned by its policyholders, not stock-market investors.

Craig DeSanto, set to be the next CEO of New York Life, joined the company in 1997.

Photo: New York Life

Under Mr. Mathas, 54 years old, New York Life pivoted from overseas expansion of the life-insurance business to growth in the U.S. He focused on building up life-insurance sales in immigrant and other diverse communities in the U.S., boosting sales and creating one of the industry’s most diverse rosters of agents.

Michele Buck, president and CEO of The Hershey Co. and lead director of New York Life’s Board, said Mr. DeSanto was unanimously the board’s choice as the new CEO because of his breadth of experience at New York Life, years of leadership and understanding of the industry.

Mr. DeSanto, 45, joined New York Life in 1997 as an actuarial summer intern and was promoted into roles across the company’s finance and business operations. Mr. DeSanto has been president since 2010. In 2018, he assumed oversight for New York Life’s retail annuity business line, one of the industry’s biggest.

In 2019, he added oversight of New York Life Investment Management, a $450 billion asset-management business serving institutions and individuals around the world. In 2020, he led the closing of the acquisition of Cigna’s Group Life and Disability business, now known as New York Life Group Benefit Solutions.

Mr. Mathas joined New York Life in 1995 as an officer in its asset-management department. He became CEO in 2008 and chairman in 2009. 

Write to Leslie Scism at leslie.scism@wsj.com