United Healthcare CEO Shooting: Executives Worry About Safety
Closed-circuit screenshots of a person involved in the assassination of UnitedHealthcare's CEO.
Source: NYPD
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot Wednesday while doing something countless other American executives routinely do: He went unaccompanied to his company's investor event.
But Thompson's death this week in the heart of America's commercial capital has sent shockwaves throughout the business world and forced companies to reconsider the risks of even the most routine managerial tasks.
“Everyone really wants to ask, 'Are we safe?'” said Chuck Randolph, chief security officer of Ontic, an Austin, Texas-based provider of threat management software. “This is a turning point where the idea of ​​protecting executives is now being extended to the board level. Everyone I know in the industry feels this.”
Security experts say threats against companies have been increasing for years, fueled in part by the social media echo chamber and a more polarized political environment. But the killing of Thompson, the head of the largest private health insurer in the United States, on a Manhattan sidewalk is the highest-profile incident in decades.
Companies now fear their executives are at greater risk of becoming victims of violence, especially as they hold more public investor events in New York in the coming weeks.
The shooter is still at large and his motive is unknown. Words on the bullet casings found at the crime scene could provide clues as to what instigated the shooter.
One question raised by security experts not involved in the case was whether the shooter demonstrated complaints against UnitedHealthcare in online forums and sought information about the investor event. Several health care companies responded by pulling photos of executives from websites, and health insurer Centene hosted a virtual investor meeting after the killing.
According to NYPD officials, Thompson did not have a security guard with him Wednesday morning, despite known threats against him. According to company filings, none of UnitedHealth's executives received personal security benefits.
Read more about the Brian Thompson shooting
Cups mark the location of bullet casings found at the crime scene where United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was reportedly shot and killed on December 4, 2024 in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, USA.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
If Thompson had done that, several key factors would have been different. Staff would have gone to the hotel prior to arrival to identify threats; He was also accompanied by armed security guards who may have used a different hotel entrance, said Scott Stewart, vice president of TorchStone Global.
“This was avoidable,” said Stewart, who said he has been in the industry for nearly four decades. “I have never seen an executive with a comprehensive security program ever fall victim like this.”
Still, before this week's shocking events, it was not uncommon for executives to turn down security because of the disruption to their lives or the image it would bring, several security veterans said.
“Not every CEO needs comprehensive protection,” said the security chief of a tech company who was not granted permission to speak to the press. “Leaders face threats all day long, you need a platform to examine them and determine whether they are credible and timely,” he said.
“Weapons, Guards and Gates”
Since Thompson's killing, numerous companies have sought additional protection for their executives, Matthew Dumpert, managing director at Kroll Enterprise Security Risk Management, told CNBC.
In the coming weeks, several financial conferences will be held in New York that CEOs will attend in person. So far, the biggest concern about these events has been disruption from environmental activists or other protesters, said a manager at a major bank.
“Everyone is looking at the security of their executives and thinking about it,” said an executive at a major Wall Street firm who declined to be named for fear it would draw attention.
Some corporate security veterans made it clear that they were viewed as a cost center whose leaders were “too deeply embedded in an organization to be listened to.”
“The bias is that security gets on people’s nerves and isn’t that important,” said the person, who requested anonymity to speak candidly.
“I hope this opens their eyes,” he said. “Risk information and assessment is important, and security is about much more than just weapons, guards and gates.”
— CNBC's Jordan Novet, Bertha Coombs and Dan Mangan contributed to this report
