Fernandez was born in Manzanillo, Cuba, the elder of two children of Lieba Fernandez and Mario Antonio Fernandez. Fernandez has a younger sister, Pilar Giorgini. On Christmas Day, 1964, Fernandez and his family were escorted by the Cuban military out of their own house and told to leave Cuba. The Fernandez family landed in Mexico City, and lived in a convent temporarily and then with other Mexican families. After six months of living in Mexico, the Fernandez family received their U.S. visas and made their way to New York City. Fernandez received a scholarship to attend Xavier High School, an all-boys Jesuit high school in the heart of Manhattan. A proud man, Mario told his son "we do not take charity nor are you disabled. Get a job and we will split the tuition". On weeknights, Fernandez worked at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, part of Presbyterian Hospital, cleaning cages of animals that were used in experiments. On weekends, Fernandez worked at the American Museum of Natural History at the kiosk stand selling souvenirs. Fernandez attended the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and subsequently enlisted in the Army.
Career
In 1975, after serving in the United States Army, Fernandez began his career in the insurance field. After seeing an opportunity in packaging health insurance with life insurance policies, Fernandez began selling health insurance to existing clients. In 1981 Fernandez started Group Tech System, the first national database on health insurance quoting programs. Group tech became Comprehensive Benefit Administrators Inc. which was sold to Ramsay HMO. Ramsay HMO was the second-largest publicly held HMO in Florida during the early 1990s. Ramsay HMO was sold to United Healthcare in 1993, and at the time Fernandez was the second largest shareholder. In 1993, Fernandez started Physician's Healthcare Plans based in Tampa FL. The company was sold to AmeriGroup in 2002. From 2002 to 2005 Fernandez started CarePlus Health. In 2005, he sold CarePlus Health Plans, a company he founded, to Humana, and founded MBF Healthcare Partners, a private equity firm in Coral Gables. His latest sale included Simply Healthcare Plans which was sold to Anthem in 2015. He has been the Founder and/or majority shareholder of 25 healthcare related companies. Most of these companies have been acquired by publicly traded companies. Among these enterprises are Physicians Healthcare Plans, CAC Medical Centers, Prescribit Rx, CarePlus Health Plans, Navarro Pharmacies, Medical Specialties Distributors, Hospitalists of America, NutriForce and Simply Healthcare Plans. After every sale, Fernandez distributes a significant portion to the company's employees. He has done this over two dozen times. In addition, he has been an active investor in other healthcare companies.
Charity
At a very young age, Fernandez learned the value of "to take care of those who come after you". He completed a 508-mile walk from France and Spain multiple times, in order to raise funds for a variety of children's causes. Over the past 20 years, he has contributed in excess of $100 million to charitable causes.
Politics
Political contributions
Fernandez is a Republican donor. In 2016, the New York Times wrote that Fernandez was "one of the most prolific donors in a key swing state", contributing more than $4 million to Republicans in recent elections. The Miami Herald has described Fernandez as "one of Florida's biggest conservative Republican moneymen." Fernandez was a major supporter of Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. Fernandez donated $1 million to Restore Our Future, a pro-Romney super PAC. In 2013, Fernandez donated $1 million to Florida Governor Rick Scott in his re-election campaign. Fernandez was the chair of the finance committee for Scott's campaign. During the 2016 election cycle, Fernandez was a major supporter of Jeb Bush, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination. Fernandez donated $3.2 million to Bush and his "Right to Rise" super PAC, making him Bush's largest donor and the 16th largest donor of the 2016 presidential election. He was ranked one of Newsmaxs "50 Most Influential Latino Republicans" in 2016. Although a Republican, Fernandez is an opponent of Donald Trump, the 2016 Republican nominee. During the Republican primaries, Fernandez funded newspaper ads comparing Trump to Hitler, Mussolini, and Perón. Fernandez endorsed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, saying that she is "a superior choice to Donald Trump."
Political views and Cuba-U.S. relations
Fernandez has praised the Massachusetts health care reform enacted under Mitt Romney, but opposes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Although a Republican and opponent of President Obama, Fernandez, supported Obama's decision to normalize relations with Cuba and lift the U.S. embargo against Cuba, a decision that Fernandez called "fifty years overdue." Like other prominent Cuban Americans, shifted positions on U.S.-Cuban relations over time, receding from hard-line stance and moving toward a position in favor of rapprochement. Fernandez wrote an op-ed published in the Miami Herald about his shift. Fernandez was part of the historical visit by President Obama to Cuba in 2016; he was part of a group of U.S. business executives, including many Cuban Americans, who met with Cuban businesspeople. Fernandez is active with the Cuba Study Group. In July, 2017, Fernandez called President Trump an "abortion of a human being," adding, "If I was the doctor and knew what that baby would do, I'd have made sure it never would have seen the light of day."
Personal life
Mike Fernandez is married to Constance Tolevich Fernandez and has 5 children, George, Alex, Michelle, Michael, and Cristofer. He also has two grand daughters named Stella and Daniella. In 2014, Fernandez released his autobiography, titled "Humbled by the Journey. Life Lessons for my Family… and Yours". The autobiography takes readers on parallel journeys: his 508-mile pilgrimage along El Camino de Santiago- and from a dirt-road Cuban town to the pinnacles of U.S. business success. Fernandez also owns a 4,000-acre ranch in Gadsden County part of which is in Havana, Florida where he breeds Friesian horses and cattle stock.
