URGENT: The CEO of UnitedHealthcare - the largest private health insurance company in America - was just shot and killed in Manhattan in an apparent assassination

New York City police say Brian Thompson, who became the insurer's top executive in 2021, appears to have been targeted in this morning's attack

Brian Thompson, the chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare, the massive and powerful Minnesota-based health insurer, was shot to death in an apparent targeted killing in midtown Manhattan this morning.

At roughly 6:45 a.m., Thompson was shot outside at a Hilton hotel on 53st Street and 6th Avenue - the center of midtown Manhattan, and only a few hundred feet from where tens of thousands of people will gather tonight for the Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center.

Thompson was at the Hilton for a financial conference. Police have told multiple news outlets that his shooter appears to have been waiting for him and targeted him. The shooter wore a mask and fled after gunning Thompson down, running to a bicycle and riding away.

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UnitedHealthcare is the health insurance division and makes up more than half the revenues of UnitedHealth Group, which is the largest and most powerful private company in American healthcare. UnitedHealth Group had $372 billion in revenues and 440,000 employees in 2023.

All by itself, UnitedHealthcare provides health insurance coverage for over 35 million people, including almost 8 million Medicare recipients. It had $280 billion in revenue last year. Thompson made $10.2 million in 2023 and was the fourth highest-paid executive at UnitedHealth Group, according to the company’s most recent proxy. He served as chief executive of the insurer since 2021 and made about $30 million over the last three years.

Police have not named a suspect or reported a possible motive for Thompson’s killing.

But if the shooting does turn out to be targeted and related to his work at UnitedHealthcare and not his personal life, it could have enormous repercussions. Even high-level American executives typically do not face threats related to their work or wealth. (Elon Musk is a notable exception.) And the idea that ordinary Americans might take revenge on insurance or hospital executives over the denial of necessary care has largely been confined to movies like the 2002 thriller John Q.

If you have any information about Thompson or high-level problems at UnitedHealthcare or UnitedHealth Group, please email me at alexberensonauthor at gmail.com.

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(Brian Thompson, RIP)