Officials said the healthcare CEO, who was gunned down in front of a busy New York City hotel on Wednesday, did not travel with any personal security detail, despite known threats against him.
A masked gunman fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, with a firearm equipped with a silencer in a “premeditated, preplanned targeted attack” outside the New York Hilton Midtown on Sixth Avenue in the heart of Manhattan, police said.
Thompson had been staying at a nearby hotel before heading to the Hilton alone, on his way to speak at UnitedHealth Group’s investor conference, when the killer confronted him.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters, “Speaking to other employees who traveled with him to New York, it doesn’t seem like he had a security detail. He left the hotel by himself, was walking, and didn’t seem to have any issues at all.”
Police said the killer targeted Thompson as he waited for other pedestrians to pass before opening fire on the CEO.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said, “Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target.” She added, “The suspect fled first on foot, then on an e-bike, and was last seen in Central Park.”
According to his wife, Paulette Thompson, the slain CEO had received recent threats but hadn’t changed his travel routine.
“Yes, there had been some threats,” Thompson told NBC News on Wednesday. “Basically, I don’t know, a lack of coverage? I don’t know details. I just know that he said some people had been threatening him.”
UnitedHealth Group’s two most recent proxy statements reveal that neither current nor former executives receive regular company-funded personal security services. Companies must report security expenses for directors or corporate officers if the value exceeds $10,000 per year.
In contrast, two of UnitedHealthcare’s peers, Humana and Cigna, stated in their most recent proxy statements that they provide personal security to executives. However, SEC records did not disclose which executives received this protection or the amount spent.
CVS Health, another major player in health insurance, requires its CEO to use corporate aircraft and a corporate driver as part of a disclosed “executive security program,” according to regulatory filings.
Former FBI Supervisor Rob D’Amico said Thompson’s slaying appears to be a personal vendetta tied to the victim’s company.
D’Amico, now a security consultant, explained that while a layman might assume finding the whereabouts of a high-ranking business figure would be difficult, a few quick Google searches could easily yield such information.
UnitedHealthcare’s website listed an investor conference for Wednesday but did not specify the meeting location.
“Even a layman can find there’s so much on the internet now, and people put so much out there,” D’Amico said.
Thompson lived in the Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove, but local police had not been notified of any threats against him, Commander Jonathan Wetternach said on Wednesday.
The only call for service to Thompson’s home came on June 5, 2018, when his wife contacted police, believing a stranger was trying to open the residence’s deadbolt, according to police records.
Responding officers found no one there, and the family later concluded that a contractor with keys to the house might have been the harmless source of the lock being jostled, Wetternach added.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the Thompson family during this difficult time,” Maple Grove police said in a statement. “Maple Grove investigators are in contact with the NYPD, who is leading the investigation. Further assistance will be provided if requested.”
