United Healthcare CEO shooting: Executives worry about safety

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 heartland sent shockwaves through the business world, forcing companies to rethink the risks in their most mundane management responsibilities.

“Everyone is panicking and saying, ‘Are we safe?'” he said. Chuck Randolphchief security officer at Ontic, an Austin, Texas-based provider of threat management software. “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, the 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 they hold more investor events 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, the company said in a statement. Submitted documents.

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. He said an armed security guard was also with him and that he may have used a different entrance to the hotel. scott stewartVice President of Torchstone Global.

“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 if they are credible and timely,” he said.

Since Mr. Thompson’s murder, a wide range of companies have Matthew Dampert, managing director at Kroll Enterprise Security Risk Management, told CNBC that the company will provide additional protections for executives.