Officials say that the health insurance CEO who was shot and killed in front of a busy New York City hotel on Wednesday didn’t travel with any personal security, even though he knew there were threats against him.
Brian Thompson, 50, was shot and killed by a masked shooter outside the New York Hilton Midtown on Sixth Avenue in the middle of Manhattan. Police say it was a “premeditated, preplanned targeted attack.”
Thompson was staying at a nearby hotel before going to the Hilton by himself to talk at an investor conference for UnitedHealth Group. That’s when his killer confronted him.
“From what I’ve heard from other employees who went to New York with him, it doesn’t look like he had a security detail,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters. “He left the hotel by himself, was walking, and didn’t seem like he had any issues at at all.”
Police say the killer picked out Thompson while he was waiting for other people to walk by before shooting the CEO.
“A lot of people walked by the suspect, but he seemed to be waiting for his target,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “The suspect fled first on foot, then on an e-bike, and was last seen in Central Park.”
According to his wife Paulette Thompson, the murdered CEO had been getting threats lately but hadn’t changed the way he traveled.
She told NBC News on Wednesday, “Yes, there had been some threats.” It was mostly, I don’t know, a lack of coverage. I don’t know the specifics. I only know that he said some people had been making threats against him.
According to UnitedHealth Group’s two most recent proxy statements, neither current nor past leaders get regular personal security services paid for by the company. If the cost of protection for directors or corporate officers is more than $10,000 per year, the company has to report it.
People who work for UnitedHealthcare’s competitors, Humana and Cigna, both said in their most recent proxy statements that they protect leaders personally. But SEC records didn’t show which leaders got this protection or how much was being spent.
According to regulatory filings, CVS Health, another big name in health insurance, has a “executive security program” that says its CEO has to use a company plane and a company driver.
Rob D’Amico, a former FBI supervisor, said that Thompson’s murder has all the signs of a personal grudge against the victim’s business.
A normal person might think it would be hard to find out where a high-level business person is at first, but D’Amico says that with just a few quick Google searches, you could easily find out where they are.
UnitedHealthcare’s website said that there would be an investment conference on Wednesday, but it didn’t say where the meeting would take place.
It’s easy for anyone to see how much is on the internet these days, and people put a lot of stuff out there, said D’Amico, who is now a security expert.
Thompson lived in Maple Grove, a neighborhood of Minneapolis. On Wednesday, Commander Jonathan Wetternach said that police there hadn’t heard of any threats against him.
Police records show that Thompson’s wife called the police on June 5, 2018, because she thought a stranger was opening the doorbell outside. This was the only time police were called to Thompson’s house.
But when police arrived, they didn’t find anyone there. The family later decided that the lock being juggled might have been caused by a worker with keys to the house, Wetternach said.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the Thompson family during this sad time,” Maple Grove police said in a statement. “The NYPD is in charge of the investigation, and Maple Grove police are in touch with them.” If more help is asked for, it will be given.”
