UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down exterior a Manhattan resort on Wednesday morning, sparking a seek for his killer and an outpouring of condolences.

New York police say the suspect shot Thompson within the chest in a “brazen, focused assault” at 6:46 a.m. ET exterior of the New York Hilton Midtown Resort — moments earlier than the annual investor convention for UnitedHealthcare’s guardian firm was set to start.

Thompson, 50, lived in Minnesota however was visiting New York Metropolis for the convention, which has since been canceled. He was taken to a neighborhood hospital and pronounced lifeless.

Inside hours, a manhunt was underway for the gunman, and tributes to Thompson had been circulating on-line.

“Brian was a extremely revered colleague and good friend to all who labored with him,” UnitedHealth Group stated in a press release, including that it’s working carefully with the NYPD. “Our hearts exit to Brian’s household and all who had been near him.”

He was CEO since 2021

UnitedHealthcare is the well being advantages enterprise inside UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest non-public well being insurer.

The Minnesota-based firm is ranked 4th on the Fortune 500 and employs some 440,000 folks worldwide. UnitedHealth Group is so dominant, in reality, that the U.S. Justice Division filed a civil antitrust swimsuit simply final month to attempt to block its proposed $3.3 billion acquisition of rival dwelling well being care and hospice companies.

Thompson was named the CEO of UnitedHealthcare in April 2021.

“Brian’s expertise, relationships and values make him particularly well-suited to assist UnitedHealthcare enhance how well being care works for customers, physicians, employers, governments and our different companions, resulting in continued and sustained long-term progress,” Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, stated in a launch on the time.

Thompson beforehand held a wide range of govt positions — most just lately because the CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s authorities packages companies, together with Medicare — since becoming a member of UnitedHealth Group in 2004, in line with his LinkedIn profile.

Earlier than that, he had spent greater than half a decade working as a CPA on the accounting agency PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC.

Thompson graduated from the College of Iowa in 1997 with a level in enterprise administration and accounting, in line with LinkedIn.

He’s a father of two

Thompson is survived by his spouse and two youngsters, in line with media studies.

Thompson’s sister-in-law, Elena Reveiz, advised the New York Instances that he was an excellent father.

“He was an excellent individual, and I’m so unhappy,” she stated.

Thompson’s spouse, Paulette Thompson, advised NBC Information that he had been receiving threats.

“Principally, I do not know, an absence of protection? I do not know particulars, I simply know that he stated there have been some folks that had been threatening him,” she stated, including that she could not give a extra considerate response as a result of she was making an attempt to console her youngsters.

NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated at a noon information convention that whereas the motive for the capturing stays unclear, the preliminary investigation suggests it was a “premeditated, pre-planned focused assault.”

She stated the suspect, carrying darkish garments and a masks, was “mendacity in anticipate a number of minutes” earlier than approaching Thompson from behind and firing a number of rounds.

Colleagues and public officers pay tribute

A number of of Thompson’s former colleagues shared recollections of him with the Minnesota Star Tribune on Wednesday, remembering him as a tough employee and an excellent individual.

John Penshorn, a former UnitedHealth Group govt who labored with Thompson for greater than a decade earlier than his 2019 retirement, described him as “humble, a servant-leader and household man.”

“He was simply an unimaginable man — good, resourceful,” stated Steve Parente, a former Trump administration healthcare official who stated he had labored with Thompson to implement the system for distributing federal monetary help to well being care suppliers early within the COVID-19 pandemic. “That is only a complete tragedy.”

Elected officers from Thompson’s dwelling state of Minnesota — the place UnitedHealthcare is a serious employer — additionally paid their respects on Wednesday, together with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

“That is horrifying information and a horrible loss for the enterprise and well being care group in Minnesota,” Walz wrote.