Society
NEW: Top CEO Murdered By Masked Hitman Outside NYC Hotel
The CEO of America’s largest health insurance company was gunned down in Manhattan as daylight broke over the city, quickly enveloping the borough in a squadron of red-and-blue lights as the New York Police Department worked to locate a gunman who shot the victim from distance.
UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson was shot and killed in midtown Manhattan at approximately 6:45 a.m. Wednesday morning while exiting the Hilton Hotel. The Daily Mail reports Thompson was struck multiple times in the chest by a masked man who fled down 6th Avenue in a cream-colored jacket. Thompson, who earned a reported $10 million a year since helming the company in 2021, was set to speak at an investor conference at the hotel later that morning where he planned to share a 2025 fiscal outlook and report more than $450 billion in revenues. First responders rushed him to Mt. Sinai Hospital where he was reported dead, the New York Post confirmed.
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Witnesses described the gunman as a white male wearing a black face mask, black and white sneakers, and carrying a gray backpack. Others told the Post that the shooter had been seen milling about the hotel grounds but was not a guest. After spotting Thompson, the man began to fire from a distance before fleeing through the Ziegfeld alleyway and hopping on a bike to make his escape. No suspect has been taken into custody, according to the NYPD.
Thompson was a 20-year employee of UnitedHealthcare, rising in the ranks since joining in 2004. He previously delivered positive results in various roles, such as the company’s head of government programs for Medicare and retirement.
A Post reporter obtained video from the harrowing scene where caution tape cordoned off sections of 6th Avenue while officers searched for shell casings and other clues about the identity of the masked hitman. A phalanx of detectives could be seen convening in the street as officers diverted traffic and kept members of the media hundreds of feet away.
A transcript from Wednesday morning’s investor meeting indicates a spokesman for the company terminated the remainder of the day’s events, citing the deadly shooting. “I’m afraid that we – some of you may know we’re dealing with a very serious medical situation with one of our team members,” UnitedHealth Group staff said during the investor day, according to a transcript obtained by CNBC. “And as a result, I’m afraid we’re going to have to bring to a close the event today, which I’m sure you’ll understand.”
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