A manhunt for the killer is underway and tributes to Thompson are circulating online.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel on Wednesday morning, sparking a search for his killer and an outpouring of condolences.
New York police say the suspect shot Thompson in the chest in a "brazen, targeted attack" at 6:46 a.m. ET outside of the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel — moments before the annual investor conference for UnitedHealthcare's parent company was set to begin.
Thompson, 50, lived in Minnesota but was visiting New York City for the conference, which has since been canceled. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead.
Within hours, a manhunt was underway for the gunman, and tributes to Thompson were circulating online.
"Brian was a highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him," UnitedHealth Group said in a statement, adding that it is working closely with the NYPD. "Our hearts go out to Brian's family and all who were close to him."
He was CEO since 2021
UnitedHealthcare is the health benefits business within UnitedHealth Group, the country's largest private health insurer.
The Minnesota-based company is ranked 4th on the Fortune 500 and employs some 440,000 people worldwide. UnitedHealth Group is so dominant, in fact, that the U.S. Justice Department filed a civil antitrust suit just last month to try to block its proposed $3.3 billion acquisition of rival home health care and hospice agencies.
Thompson was named the CEO of UnitedHealthcare in April 2021.
"Brian's experience, relationships and values make him especially well-suited to help UnitedHealthcare improve how health care works for consumers, physicians, employers, governments and our other partners, leading to continued and sustained long-term growth," Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, said in a release at the time.
Thompson previously held a variety of executive positions — most recently as the CEO of UnitedHealthcare's government programs businesses, including Medicare — since joining UnitedHealth Group in 2004, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Before that, he had spent more than half a decade working as a CPA at the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC.
Thompson graduated from the University of Iowa in 1997 with a degree in business administration and accounting, according to LinkedIn.
The researchers found that compared with white men, Asian men, Asian women, Black women, and white women were more likely to be appointed to entry-level positions.
With technology that includes wearables, 3D-printed medication and robot-assisted surgeries, the possibilities are seemingly endless when it comes to innovations that improve human health.
The CEO of UnitedHealth was fatally shot in the chest Wednesday morning outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown in what police say was a targeted attack.
Brian Thompson, 50, was at the hotel at around 6:46 a.m. arriving early for a conference when a masked man allegedly waiting for him fired at the CEO repeatedly and fled eastbound off of 6th Avenue, police sources told The Post.
Thompson was rushed to the Mt Sinai Hospital in critical condition, where he was later pronounced dead, police said. Officials said no arrests have been made yet and that the investigation is still ongoing. The suspect was described as a white male wearing a cream-colored jacket, black face mask, and black and white sneakers. Officials said he was also carrying a grey backpack.
Witnesses told The Post the suspect had been spotted near the vicinity of the hotel, on 6th Avenue, milling around.
Sources said the shooter wasn’t a guest at the hotel but it is unclear if he had other business there.
When the suspect spotted Thompson, he began to fire from a distance, striking him multiple times, police sources added.
The masked man then fled through the Ziegfeld alleyway and hopped on a bike to flee the scene.
Thompson, who has worked with UnitedHealth for the last 20 years, took the role of CEO for UnitedHealth in 2021.
He previously served as the company’s head of government programs, including Medicare and Retirement.
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