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
A Protestant pastor held in incommunicado detention for almost six months in Nicaragua has been released, Christians confirmed Thursday.
U.S. forces have seized another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea, underscoring the Trump administration’s tightening grip on Venezuela’s oil sector as opposition leader Maria Corina Machado prepares to meet President Donald Trump.
Iran abruptly shut down its airspace to commercial traffic early Thursday and the United States began repositioning military forces and personnel across the Middle East as President Donald Trump weighs potential action against Tehran amid a deadly crackdown on nationwide protests, escalating threats to U.S. bases, mass evacuation warnings, and growing signs that Washington and its allies are preparing for a possible regional confrontation.
President Donald Trump warned Thursday that he is prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act if Minnesota’s Democratic leadership fails to halt escalating violence against federal law-enforcement officers amid ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the state.
The United States will indefinitely suspend immigrant visa processing for applicants from 75 countries beginning January 21, the U.S. Department of State announced Wednesday, marking a significant expansion of the Trump administration’s immigration restrictions.
China is reassessing its strategy in Latin America following the U.S.-led removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, a move that abruptly dismantled Beijing’s most important foothold in what it increasingly views as Washington’s backyard, according to an exclusive report by The Wall Street Journal.
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth vowed Monday to dismantle Pentagon bureaucracy slowing artificial intelligence development, unveiling a sweeping push to deliver AI capabilities to U.S. warfighters at speed during a speech at SpaceX’s Starbase launch site in Texas.