News reports are that this appears to be a targeted attack. (gift link)
CEO Brian Thompson (age 50) was in Manhattan for an investor meeting at the New York Hilton Midtown and was gunned down as he was about to enter the building. The masked gunman shot him multiple times and fled the scene on a bicycle.
Police will be holding a press conference around 11:30am Eastern.
He probably denied coverage to the wrong person.
Yeah, the list of suspects here must be about 100 miles long.
That’s an outright assassination and almost certainly because of a health care situation of themselves or a loved one.
Press conference just ended. It appears they recovered 3 spent shells and 3 cartridges that were ejected. Apparently the gun jammed repeatedly and the gunman was able to clear it each time and still get off 3 shots.
They fled into Central Park on an E-bike. Also, a cell phone was recovered in a nearby alley. Police are currently going through it to see what they can find.
Yeah, my daughter asked, “what did he do to make enemies?”, and i replied, “it was probably because he’s the CEO of one of the largest health insurance companies.”
I mean… it could be an angry ex. But my money is on a disgruntled policyholder.
The estate is gonna get soaked if they took him to an out-of-network hospital.
AH!! 
I love gallows humor. 
I sense a Law and Order episode coming in a month or so.
Oh, wait, already done.
Why bother? They’ll be another asshole doing his job by close of business today
He was set to announce that profits exceeded expectations. Stock is up 2% at the moment.
While it’s not impossible that he was murdered by an angry policyholder, it seems less likely to me than some other possibilities (for one thing, CEO’s don’t make decisions on individual coverage issues).
UnitedHealth Group has been under antitrust scrutiny over recent acquisitions, dropping two takeover plans and now embroiled in an antitrust lawsuit aimed at blocking acquisition of a major competitor. Plenty of potential intrigue there involving someone at a rival firm or investor.
Or something even more personal involving love, jealousy or money.
Because enraged assassins employ this logic?
He beat the Street.
But then again …
Assassination is a symbolic act, not a functional one.
We’ll get a manifesto soon enough and then all will be clear, maybe.
I doubt that his death will change the direction of UHC. The murder was almost certainly a crime of passion (or revenge), not some cold blooded attempt to undo a business deal.
An interesting tidbit. More likely misfired than jammed. To accomplish that quickly in the heat of the moment and three times to boot suggests the killer had some actual firearms skill. Not just some angry goofball who finally lost it and bought a gun, any gun, yesterday on his way into town.
Some angry goofball with gun experience, then
I suppose we’ll find out.
Links to both UnitedHealthcare and UnitedHealth Group’s leadership pages now go to “Page Not Found”. 