Brian Thompson, a UnitedHealth Group CEO, was fatally shot outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan early Wednesday.
Thompson, 50, was shot by a lone gunman just after 6:45 a.m. outside the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel on the Avenue of the Americas near 54th street.
Witnesses described a masked gunman wearing all black and a tan backpack. After the shooting he fled the scene on a bicycle. They said he lay in wait for Thompson outside the hotel. He then approached Thompson and shot him multiple times in the chest from about 20 feet away.
Surveillance photos show UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson being gunned down in midtown Manhattan. pic.twitter.com/kPmW19TVj8
— George X?? (@georgex08939939) December 4, 2024
According to a police report, Thompson was transported to Mount Sinai West hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Thompson was CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s insurance unit.
According to reports, Thompson and UnitedHealthcare Chairman Stephen Helmsley were under investigation by the DOJ for selling over $114 million in company stock last year. Thompson reportedly sold $12 million in UnitedHealth stock worth $521 a share at the time. While Helmsley sold over 102 million shares of stock.
Thompson’s wife, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News he had been receiving “some threats” but she didn’t know the details.
“I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him,” she said. “I can’t really give a thoughtful response right now. I just found this out and I’m trying to console my children,” she added.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams told reporters, “We want to be clear to New Yorkers that this does not appear to be a random act of violence.”
Optum, a company under the UnitedHealth Group umbrella, sent emails to employees in the New York office telling them to take the day off and go home.
Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota tweeted: “This is a horrifying and shocking act of violence. My thoughts are with Brian Thompson’s family and loved ones and all those working at United Healthcare in Minnesota.”
The CEO of UnitedHealthcare was just shot and killed in New York City
pic.twitter.com/jpo2sL4hTq— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) December 4, 2024
