UnitedHealthcare boss Brian Thompson shot dead outside New York hotel
Cameras caught the moment a gunman executed a CEO in New York, as the victim’s wife revealed “threats” against him while executives at his company were under investigation for insider trading.
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The chief executive of US health insurance giant UnitedHealthcare shot and killed outside a New York hotel in an apparently targeted hit received “some threats”, his grieving wife said in her first comments, as it was revealed several of the company’s executives were under investigation for insider trading..
Police released images showing the gunman wearing a hooded top opening fire on Brian Thompson, 50, before fleeing on a bicycle towards Central Park on Wednesday morning local time, with detectives offering a $US10,000 ($A15,500) reward for the man’s capture.
They later released a new photo of the hooded suspect standing in front of the counter at the Starbucks at W. 56th Street and 6th Avenue, just 6 minutes away from the Hilton hotel where the shooting took place.
The UHC company is a major player in US private healthcare, providing workplace health insurance as well as administering huge health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid for older and low-income people funded by state budgets.
The New York Times reported that Thompson was shot just before 7am local time at the hotel in the Midtown district of Manhattan, with the CNBC broadcaster suggesting a silencer had been used.
Police confirmed a shooting with officers swarming around the area near the hotel, a usually busy corner of Manhattan that would have been filled with commuters at the time of the shooting.
Video footage showed officers performing CPR on Thompson before he was taken to a nearby hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
COMPANY EXECS UNDER INVESTIGATION
Multiple senior executives at UnitedHealthcare have been under investigation by the Department of Justice for insider trading, though it is not clear if Mr Thompson was part of that investigation before his murder, according to Fox News.
There were reports that the executives were accused of insider trading and fraud, and last year the DOJ launched a probe into whether the nation’s largest insurer was unfairly restricting competitors and running a monopoly.Last month, the DOJ along with attorneys generals from Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey and New York filed a lawsuit to block UnitedHealth Group Incorporated’s proposed $US3.3 billion ($5.1bn) acquisition of rival home health and hospice provider Amedisys Inc.
The transaction, according to the complaint, would eliminate competition between UnitedHealth and Amedisys.
“We are challenging this merger because home health and hospice patients and their families experiencing some of the most difficult moments of their lives deserve affordable, high quality care options,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said last month.
“The Justice Department will not hesitate to check unlawful consolidation and monopolisation in the healthcare market that threatens to harm vulnerable patients, their families, and health care workers.”
‘SOME THREATS’: VICTIM’S WIFE SPEAKS
In her first comments since her husband’s murder, Paulette Thompson revealed her husband had been getting threats.
“There had been some threats,” Mrs Thompson told NBC News.“Basically, I don’t know, a lack of coverage?” she said, referring to her husband’s role in UnitedHealthcare’s insurance division.
She continued: “I don’t know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him.
“I can’t really give a thoughtful response right now. I just found this out and I’m trying to console my children.”
In a statement, UnitedHealth Group said: “We are deeply saddened and shocked at the passing of our dear friend and colleague Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.
“Brian was a highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him. We are working closely with the New York Police Department and ask for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.”
UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UHC, had revenues of $100.8bn ($A155.4bn) in the third quarter of the year.
UnitedHealthcare’s Employer and Individual products are used by almost 30 million people in the United States according to an investor presentation.
Thompson’s total compensation in 2023 was $10.2 million ($US15.5m) according to a regulatory filing.
He had been chief executive of UnitedHealthcare since April 2021, according to a separate Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Before that he oversaw UnitedHealthcare’s government programs including Medicare from July 2019 to April 2021.
The company was due to hold an investor day in New York on Wednesday at which Thompson was scheduled to deliver a keynote speech.
The event was cancelled, CNBC reported, and the company did not respond to an AFP request for comment.
The New York Hilton Midtown is one of the city’s biggest hotels, popular with tourists and business travellers, and describes itself as Manhattan’s largest self-contained function space.
It was not answering calls in the wake of the incident.
Outside the hotel, senior police commanders briefed officers, as plainclothes detectives passed by upturned paper cups marking evidence.
The suspect was described as a white man wearing a hooded jacket, black face mask, black and white sneakers, and carrying a grey backpack.
– with Agence France-Presse
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Originally published as UnitedHealthcare boss Brian Thompson shot dead outside New York hotel
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