Brian Thompson

Brian Robert Thompson was an American health insurance executive who served as chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare, the insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group and the largest health insurer in the United States, from April 2021 until his death. Known as "BT" to almost everyone who knew him, he rose from a farm outside Jewell, Iowa, to lead a business that insured about 49 million Americans. On December 4, 2024, he was shot and killed outside the New York Hilton Midtown in Manhattan as he walked to his company's annual investor meeting. He was 50.

Thompson was born on July 10, 1974, in Ames, Iowa, to Pat and Dennis Thompson, and grew up on a farm outside Jewell in Hamilton County. His father worked at grain elevators. His family obituary recalls a teenager who collected titles that rarely sit together: class president, valedictorian, homecoming king, athlete and two-time all-state trombonist. He went on to the University of Iowa, where his love of the Hawkeyes became a lifelong trait, and graduated in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in business administration, majoring in accounting, with special honors and highest distinction.

After graduating he moved to Minneapolis and spent nearly seven years at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a certified public accountant, rising to manager in the Transaction Advisory Services group of the audit practice. In 2004 he joined UnitedHealth Group in corporate development, working on mergers and acquisitions. He then served as chief financial officer of each of UnitedHealthcare's three benefits divisions (Employer and Individual, Community and State, and Medicare and Retirement). He became chief executive of UnitedHealthcare Medicare and Retirement in 2017 and of the company's Government Programs business in 2019, overseeing coverage for seniors and people on Medicaid. In April 2021 he was named chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare. Announcing the appointment, UnitedHealth Group chief executive Andrew Witty said Thompson's experience, relationships and values made him especially well suited to help the company improve how health care works.

His tenure came during sharp scrutiny of the insurance industry. UnitedHealthcare was among insurers named in an October 2024 US Senate subcommittee report on rising prior authorization denials for Medicare Advantage patients, and in May 2024 Thompson was named with other senior executives in a shareholder lawsuit alleging insider trading around a Justice Department antitrust probe. According to his widow, he had received threats related to a lack of insurance coverage.

Outside work, Thompson was named honorary co-chair of the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games in Minnesota and hosted an annual golf tournament for the UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation. He lived in Maple Grove, Minnesota, with his wife, Paulette "Pauley" Thompson, a physical therapist and fellow University of Iowa graduate, and their two sons, Bryce and Dane. His family wrote that the role that mattered most to him was father: he and the boys went to Twins, Timberwolves and Vikings games, played golf together and kept a lively family group chat.

Thompson flew to New York on December 2, 2024, for UnitedHealth Group's investor day. At about 6:45 a.m. on December 4 he was shot from behind on West 54th Street outside the New York Hilton Midtown. He was taken to Mount Sinai West, where he was pronounced dead at 7:12 a.m.; the medical examiner found he died of a gunshot wound to the back of the torso. Shell casings at the scene were inscribed with the words "delay", "deny" and "depose". After a five day manhunt, Luigi Mangione, 26, was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9, 2024. On August 14, 2026, Mangione pleaded guilty to two federal stalking charges and admitted killing Thompson.

The killing drew condolences from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who said he knew Thompson, Senator Amy Klobuchar and many in business and health care, but also an outpouring of online anger at the health insurance industry that shocked many Americans and put claim denials at the centre of a national debate. His family remembered him as a charismatic, loyal and quick-witted leader who always put others first.