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| Former UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson's career came to an abrupt end on a sidewalk in midtown Manhattan. |
Thee Optimist's old Irish granny had a favorite saying, which she would often repeat when Thee teenaged Optimist was within earshot.
"As ye sow, so shall ye reap," she would say, which is a quote taken from the New Testament, specifically Paul's letter to the Galatians, chapter 6, verse 7.
It is meant to suggest that the consequences of your actions will come back to you in time.
Until yesterday, a man named Brian Thompson was the CEO of UnitedHealthCare, the health insurance division of UnitedHealth Group.
Thompson, age 50, was shot and killed by a (thus far) unknown shooter on the sidewalk in front of a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan.
The shooting took place at 6:45 am, as Thompson was about to enter the building for a company investor meeting.
The NYPD called it a "a pre-planned, premeditated, targeted attack."
Yes. That seems likely.
The shooter had a silenced weapon and approached Thompson from the back.
After murdalizing the preening CEO, the gunman walked down an alleyway and picked up a pre-stashed ebike, which he rode into Central Park.
Then he disappeared.
If you want to see what a well-planned, well-executed murder looks like (in case you're tired of random violence from morons who have never thought ten minutes ahead in their lives), you can watch it here.
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| Uh... BANG! |
Who Could Possibly Want Him Dead?
I think we can safely dispense with all the "he was a great guy, everybody loved him, valedictorian of his high school class" hokum you can easily get anywhere, if that's your bag.
I'm sure that as a young person, he was a very good dog who was completely obedient to whoever had power over him.
The truth is, UnitedHealthCare is widely hated by its customers. This is because the company does everything in its power to deny medical claims, often for medically necessary interventions and procedures. In fact, they deny approximately 32% of all claims.
Moreover, the health insurance industry in the United States is a predatory, essentially criminal enterprise, that treats human beings as units of commerce.
No one has any sympathy for Brian Thompson, no matter what CNN or other mainstream media claims.
In an interview, his wife said Thompson had been the target of numerous death threats, for, "basically, I don’t know, a lack of coverage? I don’t know details."
Of course you don't, darling.
At present, there are millions of suspects in this murder, because millions of people had a motive to kill this person.
I would leave it there - banality of evil corporate drone murdered by unknown, but soon to be identified and captured, disgruntled customer. But that's not the whole story, is it?
No. It isn't.
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| Brian Thompson, recently re-aligned CEO of UnitedHeathCare. Thompson was one of several UnitedHealthCare execs who were under investigation by the Department of Justice for insider trading. |
It Sure Looks Like a Professional Hit
If you watch the video referenced above, several items jump out at you.
- the shooter is well covered, hooded, and very difficult to identify.
- the shooter was waiting for Thompson, let him pass, then approached him from behind.
- the shooter used a gun with a large sound suppressor attached.
- the gun jammed, and when the gun jammed, the shooter quickly and competently cleared the jam before continuing with the murder.
- the shooter didn't immediately run away. He approached Thompson, and seemed to check the victim's status before leaving the scene.
- the shooter was outwardly calm at all times. One might even say the shooter behaved in a manner that was entirely professional.
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| Brian Thompson's murderer on an early morning New York City street. |
As indicated earlier, the shooter then accessed an e-bike stashed in an alley, and rode the e-bike up to Central Park before disappearing.
It looks more like an assassination carried out by a dispassionate hitman, than the work of someone who had been hurt by Thompson's company and was angry.
But why would professionals bother to kill a zero like Thompson?
Well, as it turns out, Thompson and several other UnitedHealthCare (do you hate it when companies string their name together like one long word?) executives were under investigation for insider trading.
Back in April, the government launched an antitrust probe of UnitedHealthCare. Generally, things of this nature harm the stock price of the company involved. And this case was no exception.
Two weeks before the probe went public, Thompson, along with UnitedHealth Group chairman Stephen Helmsley, Chief People Officer Erin McSweeney and Chief Accounting Officer Tom Roos, sold a combined $101.5 million in shares, with Helmsley personally netting just shy of $85 million.
In America, the only people who are allowed to get away with insider trading are members of Congress.
Wealthy and powerful people who are under investigation, or already in jail, and who might have information to share with authorities, have a funny way of dying suddenly.
Like Jeffrey Epstein, for example.
Words of Wisdom
"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
- Galatians, 6:7
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