By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
NEW YORK, USA (Worthy News) – The head of America’s biggest health insurer, UnitedHealthcare, has been killed in an apparently “targeted attack” following an early morning shooting outside an investor meeting in New York, police say.
UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson, 50, was shot outside the Hilton Hotel early Wednesday, where the company’s investor conference was being held. Police said Thompson had been rushed to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
The shooting reportedly began during Thompson’a arrival, as the alleged attacker was waiting for him and shot the executive from about 20 feet (7 meters) away before fleeing on foot.
Thompson had a gunshot wound to the chest and was taken to Mount Sinai West in critical condition, where he was pronounced dead, police and other sources said.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) said no immediate arrests were made and that the investigation was ongoing.
The NYPD described the suspect as “a White man wearing a cream-colored coat, black and white sneakers, a gray backpack, and a black face mask.”
No possible motives for the apparent assassination were immediately announced.
FINANCIAL WORLD SHOCKED
His murder shocked the financial world as the 20-year veteran of UnitedHealth, Thompson, was one of the company’s most senior executives.
The company’s investor presentations were underway as news began to spread of the shooting, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Ryan Langston, an analyst in the audience, said people have started getting phone notifications.
Then Andrew Witty, the chief executive of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, addressed the audience.
“We’re dealing with a very serious medical situation,” Witty said, according to people who were in the audience.
Langston said the room “quickly turned very somber, very quiet.” He added, “People, including myself, were calling their families. I let them know I was OK.”
Thompson went by the nickname “BT” and regularly presented the firm at investor events and on earnings calls, according to people knowing him well.
MASSIVE UNIT
The insurance unit he oversaw as due to bring in $280 billion in revenue this year and is the country’s largest health insurer, according to estimates.
In 2021, he became the chief executive officer of the UnitedHealthcare insurance division after working in finance positions across the business.
A certified public accountant,
Thompson graduated from the University of Iowa with a business degree in 1997. He worked at the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) before joining UnitedHealth.
Thompson’s sister-in-law, Elena Reveiz, said she was still processing the news of his death. “He was a good person, and I am so sad,” Reveiz said.
He is survived by his wife Paulette ‘Pauley’ Thompson, 51, and their two children.
His wife is a practicing physical therapist for Park Nicollet Health Services with over 20 years of experience.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
The administration of Donald Trump has informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it remains committed to securing the return of the final deceased Israeli hostage and to disarming Hamas, but will not make either a precondition for launching phase two of its Gaza peace plan, according to a Times of Israel exclusive.
Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a sweeping presidential memorandum directing the United States to withdraw from 66 international organizations, including 31 entities tied to the United Nations, in a major escalation of his “America First” agenda.
Fire safety inspections had not been carried out for several years at the Swiss mountain bar where a New Year’s party blaze killed 40 people and injured at least 116 others, local authorities confirmed Wednesday, as investigators widened a criminal probe into the tragedy.
The United States on Wednesday signaled to Russia and other powers that it intends to assert control over Venezuela and its oil sector by seizing two sanctioned tankers and unveiling a plan to channel Venezuelan crude sales through U.S.-approved mechanisms.
Russia and the United States edged closer to confrontation after U.S. forces seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic, prompting sharp protests from Moscow and assertive statements from senior U.S. officials.
Questions have been raised about Italian security arrangements after pro-Palestinian protesters physically blocked passengers from boarding a flight to Tel Aviv at Milan’s main airport, forming a human barrier at the gate and delaying the departure for more than two hours.
New Year celebrations for Pakistan’s Christian minority have been overshadowed by the killing of a Christian father of three, the vandalism of a church, and renewed fears that strict Islamic blasphemy laws could fuel further violence against religious minorities.