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A senior executive at U.S. health care company UnitedHealth Group was fatally shot ahead of an investor event in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Brian Thompson, 50, who had been chief executive of Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare Group’s insurance division since 2021, was pronounced dead at a hospital after being shot outside the New York Hilton Midtown, the people said.
The NYPD said officers responded to a call at 6:40 a.m. Wednesday to find a 50-year-old man unconscious with a gunshot wound outside a sprawling hotel in one of New York’s busiest business and tourist districts.
The person was rushed to nearby Mount Sinai Hospital where he was later pronounced dead, the NYPD added. No one has yet been arrested in connection with this crime and the investigation is ongoing. The NYPD said the victim’s identity will not be released until his family is notified.
UnitedHealth He did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The company canceled a meeting with investors that started at 8 am. Thompson was due to speak at an event later in the day, along with other executives including group chief executive Andrew Witty.
Witty ended the event on Wednesday morning after reports of the incident emerged. “I’m afraid that . . . some of you may know that we are dealing with a very serious medical situation with one of our team members and as a result I’m afraid we will have to end the event today,” he said.
Thompson, who has worked at UnitedHealth since 2004, has held multiple roles in UnitedHealthcare’s insurance division, including working in corporate development and serving as chief financial officer for Medicare and Pensions.
UnitedHealth, which has a market value of $566 billion, generated nearly $372 billion in revenue last year, making it America’s fourth-largest public company by sales. UnitedHealthcare — the largest US health insurer, led by Thompson — contributed about 75 percent of the group’s revenue.
