UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was accused of insider trading and fraud before he was assassinated on Wednesday in Manhattan.

Thompson, 50, was shot dead in what NYPD officials believe was a targeted attack as he exited the Hilton hotel before an investor conference. His killer remains on the loose.


Last year the DoJ launched a probe into whether the private company of the nation's biggest insurer, led by Thompson, was unfairly restricting competitors and running a monopoly.

In May, the City of Hollywood Firefighters’ Pension Fund initiated a complaint against Thompson and other executives, accusing the CEO of failing to tell investors about the federal probe before he unloaded over 31 percent of his stock, taking in $15.1 million in proceeds.

In legal documents, the fund said Thompson and other company execs sold over $117 million worth of UnitedHealth common stock during the four-month period when insiders knew about the federal antitrust investigation but the public did not.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, America's largest state public pension fund, then joined that complaint in October and filed an amendment seeking a jury trial against the UnitedHealth execs including Thompson.

The Wall Street Journal reported in February that federal investigators had been interviewing healthcare industry representatives in sectors where UnitedHealth competes, including doctor groups.

Investigators have asked about issues including certain relationships between the company's UnitedHealthcare insurance unit and its Optum health services arm, which owns physician groups, among other assets.


Thompson was accused of being aware of the DoJ probe into the company, and not telling investors before he unloaded over 31 percent of his stock



The WSJ also reported that the DOJ was examining the company's Medicare billing practices to see if doctors are aggressively characterizing their patients illnesses to wrongly increase payments from the government.

Thompson was fatally shot in the chest and leg in a targeted attack by a masked man, who then fled down 6th Avenue on a bicycle. The NYPD has launched a huge manhunt to catch the killer, who is believed to have escaped into Central Park.

Witnesses said the suspected gunman was seen waiting outside the hotel before the shooting, and knew which door Thompson was going to emerge from before shooting him at point-blank range.

Footage showed NYPD officers performing CPR on the CEO, before he was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition. He was later pronounced dead.

Thompson was named UnitedHealthcare CEO in 2021 and earned a reported $10 million a year, and for several years prior, he ran the Medicare business within UnitedHealthcare.

He was slated to speak at an investor meeting at the Hilton Hotel soon after the shooting. According to a release from United Healthcare on Tuesday, he would announce the company's hugely profitable 2025 financial outlook, including expected revenues upwards of $450 billion.

The suspect is at large, and is described as a white male wearing a cream-colored jacket, black face mask, black and white sneakers, and a grey backpack.

Sources reportedly said that Thompson, who lives in Minnesota with his wife and children, was not a guest at the hotel but had arrived early to prepare for his presentation.


Flags fly at half mast outside the United Healthcare corporate headquarters on December 4, 2024 in Minnetonka, Minnesota