The 50-year-old CEO of UnitedHealth Group‘s health insurance subsidiary, Brian Thompson, was assassinated on Wednesday in Manhattan before an investor meeting in what investigators suspect was a targeted shooting.
Just before 7 a.m., Thompson, who spent nearly 20 years at UnitedHealth before being elevated to CEO of the insurance division UnitedHealthcare in 2021, was shot outside the New York Hilton Midtown, the venue for the meeting. UnitedHealth Group recalled Thompson as a “highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him,” and expressed its “deep sadness and shock” at his passing on Wednesday.
Before taking over as CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the biggest health insurer in the country, Thompson joined the UnitedHealth Group in 2004 and served as CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s federal programs, including Medicare.
According to LinkedIn, accessed by the BrandSpur digital news platform, Thompson is a certified public accountant who earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Iowa in 1997. Prior to joining United as director of corporate development, he spent six years working for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), an accounting firm.
According to The Minnesota Star Tribune, Thompson has two boys, one of whom just graduated and the other of whom is enrolled in a public high school in Plymouth, Minnesota. Thompson’s sister, Elena Reveiz, told The New York Times that Thompson was a “good person,” while Brandon Carlson, one of the older son’s previous coaches, told the Tribune that his parents “Were present around all of the team events.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) described the shooting as a: “Horrifying and shocking act of violence,” while Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, the state where Thompson lived and worked and where UnitedHealth Group is headquartered, called the death: “Horrifying news and a terrible loss for the business and health care community in Minnesota.”
Thompson was described as: “Humble, a servant-leader and family man,” by John Penshorn, a former executive at UnitedHealth Group who worked with him for over ten years, and as an: “Incredible guy,” by Steve Parente, a health economist at the University of Minnesota who also worked with Thompson.
According to several publications, Thompson was critically injured after being shot in the chest and sent to Mount Sinai West. Authorities concluded the attack was targeted since the gunman was allegedly waiting outside the hotel before Thompson arrived, according to police.
The shooting “does not appear to be a random act of violence,” New York City, Mayor Eric Adams told reporters.
According to the description, the shooting suspect was a white male with a cream-colored coat, black and white sneakers, a gray rucksack, and a black face mask. Police have made the man’s pictures public and are rewarding anyone with information with up to $10,000.
In 2024, Forbes listed UnitedHealth Group as the 19th largest company in the world. The company’s third-quarter net income was $6 billion, and its market value is above $560 billion.
According to the firm, the number of individuals served by Thompson’s division, UnitedHealthcare commercial health insurance, increased by 2.4 million during the first three quarters of this year. On Forbes’ lists of America’s Best Companies and America’s Dream Employers, UnitedHealth Group is placed at No. 192 and No. 272, respectively.
