UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was being investigated by the Department of Justice for antitrust violations when he was assassinated outside a Manhattan hotel on Wednesday.
Thompson, 50, was shot dead in what NYPD officials believe was a targeted attack as he exited the Hilton hotel on his way to an investor conference. His killer remains on the loose.
Earlier this year the DoJ launched a probe into whether the nation’s biggest insurer, led by Thompson, was unfairly restricting competitors or running a monopoly. The DoJ also sued to block the company’s acquisition of home health and hospice provider 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, said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. ‘The Justice Department will not hesitate to check unlawful consolidation and monopolization in the healthcare market that threatens to harm vulnerable patients, their families, and health care workers.’
The Wall Street Journal reported in February that 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.
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.
Last month, Simply Wall Street reported that amid the probe and lawsuit, UnitedHealth insiders had sold $16million of their stock – CEO Thompson was the biggest insider seller, unloading $12million worth of shares, at about US$521 per share.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed outside Manhattan’s Hilton Hotel
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
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.
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.
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
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.
