Screenshot of private circuit of key person in United Healthcare CEO murder.
Source: New York City Police Department
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was doing what countless other American executives do every day on Wednesday: walking alone to his company’s investor event. was shot and killed.
But Mr. Thompson’s death this week in America’s corporate capital sent shockwaves through the business world, forcing companies to rethink the risks in their most mundane management responsibilities.
“Everyone is starting to panic and say, ‘Are we safe?'” says Chuck Randolph, chief security officer at Ontic, a provider of threat management software based in Austin, Texas. . “This is a tipping point where the idea of executive protection is elevated to the board level. Everyone I know in the industry feels this.”
Security experts say threats to businesses have increased in recent years, due in part to social media echo chambers and a polarized political environment. But the murder of Mr. Thompson, head of the nation’s largest private health insurance company, on a Manhattan sidewalk is the most high-profile case of its kind in decades.
Companies are now concerned that their leaders are at increased risk of becoming targets of violence, especially as more public investor events are held in New York in the coming weeks.
The perpetrator is still at large and his motive is unknown. Words written on shell casings found at the scene may provide a hint as to what prompted the shooter.
One question from a security expert not involved in the incident was whether the shooter had expressed dissatisfaction with UnitedHealthcare in online forums and searched for information about investor events. Several health care companies have responded by citing photos of executives from their websites, and health insurance company Centene held a virtual investor meeting after the killing.
NYPD officials said they did not have a security guard with them on Wednesday morning, despite known threats against Thompson. None of UnitedHealth’s executives received personal security benefits, according to the company’s filings.
The cup marks the location of a shell casing found at the scene where United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was reportedly shot and killed in midtown Manhattan, New York City, USA, on December 4, 2024.
Shannon Stapleton Reuter
If Thompson had done that, some key factors would have been different. Officials would have gone to the hotel before his arrival to detect any threats. Scott Stewart, a vice president at Torchstone Global, said he was also accompanied by armed security and may have used a different entrance to the hotel.
“This was preventable,” said Stewart, who has worked in the industry for nearly 40 years. “I’ve never seen an executive with a comprehensive security program fall victim to something like that.”
Still, before this week’s shocking events, it wasn’t uncommon for executives to leave security services because of the disruption to their lives and the image it created, security veterans said.
“Not all CEOs need heavy protection,” said a security chief at a technology company who was not authorized to speak to the press. “Senior executives are under threat all day long, and we need a platform to investigate them and determine whether they are credible and timely,” he said.
“Guns, guards, gates”
Matthew Dumpert, managing director of Kroll Enterprise Security Risk Management, told CNBC that a wide range of companies have sought additional protections for their executives since Thompson’s murder.
Several financial conferences will be held in New York in the coming weeks, with CEOs scheduled to attend in person. A manager at a major bank said that in the past, the main concern about such events was disruption caused by environmentalists and other protesters.
“Everyone is thinking and thinking about the security of their senior employees,” said an executive at a major Wall Street firm, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of attracting attention.
Some corporate security veterans say that company leaders are viewed as cost centers “too deeply entrenched within the organization to be heard.”
“The bias is that security is a hassle for people and it’s not that important,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“I hope this opens their eyes,” he said. “Risk information and assessment is important and security is more than just guns, guards and gates.”
—CNBC’s Jordan Novett, Bertha Coombs and Dan Mangan contributed to this report
