Police say the killing was a targeted attack and not a random act of violence. New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the shooting “premeditated, pre-planned, targeted attack.” The shooter was caught on camera and last seen in Central Park. They were not arrested. The motive for the murder is not known, but Thompson’s wife he told NBC News that “there were some people who threatened him”.
Thompson is executive vice president and CEO of UnitedHealthcare, a role he was named to in 2021, while Andrew Witty is CEO of the larger UnitedHealth Group. His killing comes at a time when companies are increasingly worried and spending about the security of their top executives, and could confirm the worst fears in corporate America. More acutely, the targeting of a high-profile executive raises new questions about whether personal security, corporate air travel and trained defensive drivers should extend to roles beyond the CEO.
“We don’t know the motivation. Certainly, if it’s a personal motivation, it changes the landscape a little bit,” says Glen Kucera, CEO of MSA Security, a threat protection company. Wealth. “If it was motivated by the work they’re doing, the health care business or anything that might be related, then it’s certainly a wake-up call to a lot of CEOs and CEOs who travel around the country and the world.”
Increased investment in executive security
Large companies seem to be increasingly aware of security risks for their top executives.
In a review of CEO benefits between 2020 and 2023, consulting firm ISS-Corporate found that home security benefits for S&P 500 CEOs increased from 12.6% in 2020 to 15.7% in 2023. And the prevalence of personal and home security benefits among S&P 500 companies has been on steady growth since 2018. data from Esgauge shows. In 2018, only 13.2% of CEOs had these benefits, compared to 17.9% in 2024. (Although companies disclose security as technically a prerequisite, benefits are often the result of an executive’s security assessment.)
However, the trend towards increased safety is far less pronounced among healthcare companies; Russell 3000 healthcare companies actually trended down from 0.8% in 2018 to 0.5% in 2024, Esgauge data reveals. The median value of security for CEOs overall in 2023 was about $50,000, according to WTWinsurance brokerage and risk management company.
Some of the world’s most prominent executives, however, cost their companies millions a year in protection services. The richest man in the world Elon Musk, now travels with up to 20 security guards, the The New York Times reported. Personal security for Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai costs about $6.8 million a year, according to SEC filings. AND Meta platform increased security spending for Mark Zuckerberg from $10 million to $14 million annually in February 2023, according to public documents.
“We believe that Mr. Zuckerberg’s role puts him in a unique position: he is synonymous with Meta and, as a result, negative feelings about our company are directly related to Mr. Zuckerberg and are often transmitted to him,” the company wrote last year. in disclosures.
“When you’re talking about somebody who’s worth millions of dollars or billions of dollars and is the head of an entire company, there’s a real possibility of kidnapping, there’s a real possibility of extortion, there’s a real possibility of an attempt on their life,” Bill Herzog, CEO of Arizona-based LionHeart Security Services , previously stated Wealth on executive security.
However, the greatest focus on security has been at the level of the CEO and President, rather than among other named executive officers. At UnitedHealthcare, the company requires CEO Andrew Witty to fly on the corporate jet for all business travel and encourages him to fly on the jet for personal and family travel. Based on the company’s latest disclosures, Witty did not use the jet for personal travel in 2023. But the company did not disclose other personal security benefits for executives, including Thompson.
AND Cardinal health spent $445,732 on corporate jet travel, home security and oversight and accountability for CEO Jason Hollar. The company did not disclose the same benefits for other top executives, according to the company’s 2024. proxy statement. Posts from other healthcare companies show similar trends. Elevance disclosed the use of aircraft for CEO Gail Boudreaux, but other CEOs did not have aircraft information.
Other companies have taken a harder line. Target in January and February 2021 granted new personal protection services for the entire board of directors, given the level of scrutiny at the company and the “tense atmosphere following the 2020 US election and the attack on the US Capitol,” the company told investors. He also revealed that he provides personal security for other CEOs in response to certain threats.
“Nobody ever goes to work expecting this to happen to them, do they? That is why it is very important to be informed. Be aware of your surroundings. Have a good safety protocol in case this happens,” says Kučera. “You have to be ready.”
