The CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, faced serious allegations of insider trading and fraud from the Department of Justice. Tragically, Thompson met his end on Wednesday in Manhattan when he was assassinated.
The unsettling incident occurred as Thompson was leaving the Hilton hotel ahead of an investor conference. The NYPD suspects that his killing was intentional and targeted. The perpetrator responsible for his death has not yet been apprehended.
This unfortunate event comes at a time when the DoJ had already initiated an investigation into potential antitrust activities by the leading health insurer in the country under Thompson’s leadership. Allegations were circulating that UnitedHealthcare was unfairly impeding competition and possibly operating as a monopoly.
Then in October, the City of Hollywood Firefighters’ Pension Fund in May initiated a complaint against the company against Thompson and other executives, accusing the CEO of failing to tell investors about the federal probe before he unloaded over 31 percent of his stock, taking in $15.1 million in proceeds.
In legal documents, investigators said that Thompson and other company execs sold over $117 million worth of UnitedHealth common stock during the four-month period when insiders knew about the federal antitrust investigation but the public did not.
The City of Hollywood Firefighters’ Pension Fund had filed a similar complaint in May against UnitedHealth, proposing a shareholder class action suit.
The Wall Street Journal reported in February that federal investigators had been interviewing healthcare industry representatives in sectors where UnitedHealth competes, including doctor groups.
Investigators have asked about issues including certain relationships between the company’s UnitedHealthcare insurance unit and its Optum health services arm, which owns physician groups, among other assets.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed outside Manhattan’s Hilton Hotel
Thompson was accused of being aware of the DoJ probe into the company, and not telling investors before he unloaded over 31 percent of his stock
The WSJ also reported that the DOJ was examining the company’s Medicare billing practices to see if doctors are aggressively characterizing their patients illnesses to wrongly increase payments from the government.
Thompson was fatally shot in the chest and leg in a targeted attack by a masked man, who then fled down 6th Avenue on a bicycle. The NYPD has launched a huge manhunt to catch the killer, who is believed to have escaped into Central Park.
Witnesses said the suspected gunman was seen waiting outside the hotel before the shooting, and knew which door Thompson was going to emerge from before shooting him at point-blank range.
Footage showed NYPD officers performing CPR on the CEO, before he was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition. He was later pronounced dead.
Thompson was named UnitedHealthcare CEO in 2021 and earned a reported $10 million a year, and for several years prior, he ran the Medicare business within UnitedHealthcare.
He was slated to speak at an investor meeting at the Hilton Hotel soon after the shooting. According to a release from United Healthcare on Tuesday, he would announce the company’s hugely profitable 2025 financial outlook, including expected revenues upwards of $450 billion.
The suspect is at large, and is described as a white male wearing a cream-colored jacket, black face mask, black and white sneakers, and a grey backpack.
Sources reportedly said that Thompson, who lives in Minnesota with his wife and children, was not a guest at the hotel but had arrived early to prepare for his presentation.
Witnesses said the gunman appeared to know which door Thompson would emerge from the second he stepped onto the street, and shot him in the chest and leg and point-blank range
Footage showed NYPD officers performing CPR on the CEO, before he was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition. He was later pronounced dead
Flags fly at half mast outside the United Healthcare corporate headquarters on December 4, 2024 in Minnetonka, Minnesota
The gunman apparently knew which door Thompson was going to emerge from, and gunned him down from several feet away. The suspect then jumped on a bicycle, and is believed to have fled to Central Park.
With the suspect still at large, the NYPD announced a $10,000 reward to anyone with information regarding the shooting, and said it plans to release two surveillance pictures to help track down the killer.
United is the biggest health insurer by market share in America. The company has been the subject of frequent protests by activists for allegedly systematically denying care for patients.
One such protest earlier this year led to the arrests of 11 people outside the United Healthcare headquarters in Minnetonka, Minnesota.
The company made headlines in February after it was subjected to a cyber-attack which cost $872 million.
Minnesota leaders paid tribute to Thompson after news of his death was announced, with United Healthcare one of the state’s major employers.
Minnesota Governor and 2024 Democratic nominee for Vice-President Tim Walz, who was pictured with Thompson in 2022, said the shooting was ‘horrifying news and a terrible loss for the business and health care community in Minnesota.’
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey added in his own statement: ‘This is a shocking and devastating loss for our whole community. ‘Shocking’ is the only word I can find at the moment.’
Thompson is survived by his wife Paulette ‘Pauley’ Thompson, 51, and their two children who live in the family’s $1.5 million home in Maple Grove, Minnesota.
