UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Killed Outside Manhattan Hotel

The CEO of the UnitedHealthcare insurer, Brian Thompson, was shot dead this Wednesday, December 4, near a hotel in downtown Manhattan early in the morning, according to media outlets such as The New York Post.

The newspaper, which cites police sources, indicated that Thompson, 50, was shot in the chest by a masked man outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown shortly before seven in the morning, and that the attacker fled after the attack.

Thompson was taken to a hospital in serious condition and his death was declared there, the media reported.

The New York Police (NYPD), asked by the EFE news agency, said it was pending confirmation of the identity of the victim and did not disclose information.

Unitedhealthcare, which is the largest private insurer in the United States and belongs to the Unitedhealth group, was preparing to hold its investor day at the Hilton hotel in Midtown, an event at which Thompson was scheduled to give a keynote speech and which would later was cancelled.

Thompson was on his way to the hotel for a conference when The attacker, who was apparently waiting for him, shot him several times from a distance of about six meters, investigators told CNN. CNBC host suggested a silencer had been used in the attack.

The incident occurred on a usually busy corner in Manhattan that would have been full of travelers at the time of the shooting.

Authorities described the suspect, who fled on a bicycle and has not been arrested, as a white man with a cream-colored jacket, a black mask on his face, black and white sneakers and a gray backpack, notes the Post.

According to Pix 11, UnitedHealth Group was holding a conference with investors at a hotel in Mahattan, which was interrupted by the group’s number one, Andrew Witty, who spoke of a “very serious situation (…)”.

Thompson had been part of UnitedHealth Group for 20 years and led its health subsidiary UnitedHealthcare since 2021.

UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of Unitedhealthcare, has 440,000 employees and had revenue of $100.8 billion in the third quarter of 2024. The company’s employer and individual products are used by nearly 30 million people in the United States, according to an investor presentation. In addition, it covers 51 million people.