# UnitedHealthcare CEO fatally shot in Manhattan \[breaking news: 2024-12-04\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** breaking-news\ **Created:** [December 4, 2024, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159 "2024-12-04T16:11:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/103 "2024-12-05T01:25:56Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Now somebody who’s blinded by rage or numb with depression won’t even try to not get caught. Our killer is, IMO, not that. Why I’m wondering if he had very bad dealings going on, like massive illegal gambling debts or other dark people he was dealing with. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/104 "2024-12-05T01:26:04Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > This whole angle makes me think it’s less likely to be someone that’s upset about a coverage decision for themselves / a loved one. Someone like that would, IMHO, not go to such lengths to avoid being identified and caught. The person they paid to do the job, on the other hand, might. It was mentioned that the killer was seen on CCTV just before the killing making a phone call. I was thinking that was him calling his patron to tell them he was about to do it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/105 "2024-12-05T01:27:21Z")
Yeah. If this was a pro job the next step is figuring out who hired the hitman, even if the hitman themselves is never caught. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/106 "2024-12-05T01:29:09Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > just before the killing making a phone call. I was thinking that was him calling his patron to tell them he was about to do it. Was the shooter sending the call or receiving it? if this was a pro job I’d sooner expect that was the lookout at the other hotel calling to say “Target has left his hotel; will be to your location in 3 minutes. Click.” ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/107 "2024-12-05T01:38:37Z")
Has Jessica Fletcher’s location been confirmed? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/108 "2024-12-05T01:39:57Z")
She was coincidentally vacationing in the area ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/109 "2024-12-05T01:51:46Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > Now somebody who’s blinded by rage or numb with depression won’t even try to not get caught. Our killer is, IMO, not that. > > Why I’m wondering if he had very bad dealings going on, like massive illegal gambling debts or other dark people he was dealing with. Considering that the man was undoubtedly very wealthy with a very cushy job that paid him tens of millions in salary and stock options, I find the likelihood that he was involved in anything really shady in his personal life to be quite improbable. Lord knows, the business he was in was already shady enough and naturally positioned to be widely hated and my money is that it was connected with this, most likely perpetrated by a disgruntled client. Those who have been recently screwed over by UHC are going to get a lot of uncomfortable attention, and it’s probably a very long list. I also predict that he’ll soon be caught, as this case is going to get unprecedented priority. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/110 "2024-12-05T01:54:43Z")
I posted this over in the True Crime thread in Cafe Society; thought I was posting it here. > **[Americans Have Little Sympathy for Murdered Health Insurance Exec](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/health-insurance-murder-reactions-1235192490/)** > > Americans expressed virtually no sympathy for the apparently targeted killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO by mystery gunman in New York. > Thompson’s violent death outside a hotel where UnitedHealthcare was hosting an investor conference didn’t just prompt scathing jokes but heated criticism of the insurer he had helmed since 2021. One image that made the rounds online was a [chart](https://www.valuepenguin.com/health-insurance-claim-denials-and-appeals#:~:text=UnitedHealthcare%20is%20the%20worst%20insurance,only%207%25%20of%20medical%20bills.&text=in%20Your%20Area-,Currently,It's%20free%2C%20simple%20and%20secure.) from the personal finance website ValuePenguin, which found that UnitedHealthcare denies 32 percent of all in-network claims relating to individual health insurance plans — twice the industry average. > Another ongoing lawsuit against UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, named Thompson along with two other top executives. A pension for firefighters in the city of Hollywood, Florida, filed the [securities fraud class action](https://static.blbglaw.com/docs/May%2014%2C%202024%20-%20Initial%20Complaint_UnitedHealth%20SCA.pdf) earlier this year, accusing Thompson and his colleagues of selling $120 million of their UnitedHealth shares after learning of a U.S. Justice Department antitrust investigation of the company — but before the probe became public. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/111 "2024-12-05T02:06:38Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Considering that the man was undoubtedly very wealthy with a very cushy job that paid him tens of millions in salary and stock options, I find the likelihood that he was involved in anything really shady in his personal life to be quite improbable A former mayor of San Diego died with over a billion dollars in gambling debts. Stranger things have happened. > **[Maureen O’Connor: Former San Diego Mayor Bet More Than $1 Billion as a Result...](https://nation.time.com/2013/02/15/maureen-oconnor-former-san-diego-mayor-bet-more-than-1-billion-as-a-result-of-gambling-addiction/)** > > The former politician promised a federal judge she would pay back the $2 million she'd taken from her husband's charity in order to stay out of jail. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/112 "2024-12-05T02:18:43Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I find the likelihood that he was involved in anything really shady in his personal life to be quite improbable. $120 million worth of insider trading ain’t nothing, though I spose arguably that counts as business and not personal. But it’s fraud on a scale beyond most people’s ability to actually grasp. So we know he’s a criminal given the chance, and no doubt felt he could get away with most anything with impunity. I don’t find the idea that he was involved in shady stuff implausible at all. Still, pissed off denied customer/family member is the way I’m betting. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/113 "2024-12-05T02:39:53Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > So we know he’s a criminal given the chance, and no doubt felt he could get away with most anything with impunity. I don’t find the idea that he was involved in shady stuff implausible at all. I agree that no one with a conscience could run an intrinsically criminal business like a health insurance company and be able to sleep at night. My belief that he wasn’t involved in anything very shady outside the company isn’t based on a presumption of morality, but on a presumption of simple pragmatism. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/114 "2024-12-05T02:44:36Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > One of the most popular TV shows of all time is about a man who turns to a life of crime because his insurance company won’t cover his cancer treatments. Now, I like Leverage, but I didn’t think it was _that_ popular. > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Another ongoing lawsuit against UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, named Thompson along with two other top executives. OK, my L&O episode has pivoted to an Elementary episode, where the guy was killed by his own company. Because he was going ti “whistleblow” and turn over incriminating evidence at the trial. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/115 "2024-12-05T02:49:58Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Now, I like Leverage, but I didn’t think it was _that_ popular. I was referring to Breaking Bad, but I assume you were joking. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/116 "2024-12-05T02:50:49Z")
It’s also the same day as the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, which would also be a high-security event. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/117 "2024-12-05T02:53:37Z")
She wasn’t $1 billion in debt at the time of her death, but she’s believed to have gambled $1 billion as a high roller in her lifetime. FWIW, the story said her father was a bookie. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/118 "2024-12-05T02:55:07Z")
The 50th anniversary of Karen Silkwood’s death was quite recently. She was going to whistle-blow on her employer, a nuclear power plant, and was run off the road and the documents she was going to present were never found. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/119 "2024-12-05T02:55:18Z")
What if it was mistaken identity, and the shooter killed the wrong guy? Now all your health insurance jokes aren’t so funny, are they? (Okay, still funny. But that’s all I got) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/120 "2024-12-05T03:03:36Z")
So if this was a hit job, it was probably masterminded by someone: - distrustful of the medical industry - familiar with the requirements for targeted assassination, perhaps having done his own research after losing several family members to such killings himself - well-versed in using Central Park as an escape route [I think we’ve got him!](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_Jr) ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/121 "2024-12-05T03:06:11Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > [Social Media Respond Health Insurance CEO Murder With Little Sympathy](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/health-insurance-murder-reactions-1235192490/) I think this might be the most popular killing with the American people since the raid that got Osama. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159/122 "2024-12-05T03:07:11Z")
It’s very disturbing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-in-manhattan-breaking-news-2024-12-04/1011159.md?page=7)