Last week, Thompson – the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed outside the Hilton hotel in Manhattan, New York.
The suspect of the fatal shooting has since been caught and named as 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, and has been charged with murder – to which he will be pleading not guilty, his attorney has stated.
Brian Thompson was shot and killed in New York last week (UnitedHealth Group)
In the midst of these developments, a new video features UnitedHealth Group’s CEO Sir Andrew Witty – Thompson’s boss – as he fumes that social media users are bad-mouthing his industry.
He is heard complaining about critics who he calls ‘vitriolic’ and ‘not in tune with reality’.
His comments were made in a private video to staff, which has now been leaked and shared online.
Journalist Ken Klippenstein posted a short clip from the video on his Substack platform, and after an avalanche of interest he followed up with the full three minute video of Witty.
Witty is heard saying ‘we guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or unnecessary care’.
He also praised his late colleague, 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 [Thompson].”
He added: “The health system needs a company like United Health Group, and it needs people like Brian within it.”
One social media user replied: “You know what’s unnecessary? Health insurance! Worst middleman of all time.”
“This is just a fancy way of saying denying care ‘isn’t personal, it’s just business'” added another.
The video has been seen as short-sighted: “To simply dismiss everything on social media as ‘critical noise’ reveals how out of touch and elitist he is. He thinks everybody outside of his leadership team are peons to be dismissed.”
Luigi Mangione has been charged with Brian Thompson’s murder (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
“Corporations like this are the disease, not the symptom” slammed another.
Others questioned why Witty has a title, but he was knighted in 2012 for his services to the UK economy.
The leaked video was then followed up by a memo, which also called Thompson ‘one of the good guys’ who 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’.
He continued: “He was certainly one of the smartest guys. I think he was one of the best guys.”
