When a big news story occurs, there is often a lot more going on behind the scenes than what we realize. This is also true of the death of CEO Brian Thompson, who was murdered in New York recently.
Brian Thompson was killed outside of a hotel in Manhattan, New York last week. He was the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, and a manhunt ensued prior to the arrest of 26-year-old Luigi Mangione.
According to the attorney, he is pleading not guilty to the charges of murder. The case is still young, so there is a lot of information that is still coming our way.
As things continue to unfold, a new video was leaked that featured the CEO of UnitedHealth Group, Andrew Witty. He was Thompson’s boss, and he was upset about users on social media speaking poorly about the industry.
He spoke about those social media critics, saying that they were ‘not in tune with reality’. The video was meant to be privately shared with the staff, but somebody leaked it and shared it online.
The video was shared by journalist Ken Klippenstein, and it has gained a lot of attention. In part, Witty can be heard saying: ‘we guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or unnecessary care’.
United CEO Andrew Witty gave an address to the company today (video leaked to me). Some highlights:
– "we guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or for unnecessary care."
– "There are very few people in the history of the US healthcare industry who had a bigger… pic.twitter.com/7ihMkHAcia— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) December 6, 2024
He also spoke of Thompson, saying: “There are very few people in the history of the US healthcare industry who had a bigger positive effect on American healthcare than Brian.
“The health system needs a company like United Health Group, and it needs people like Brian within it.”
Many people were quick to comment on the video, and it was not positive. They slammed United Healthcare for their business practices.
After the video was leaked, it was followed with a memo that called Thompson one of the good guys. It went on to say that he had ‘a profoundly positive impact on the lives of so many people. People he never saw. People he never met. People who never knew him. But people Brian cared so deeply about’.
