Slain UnitedHealth executive puts focus on CEO safety policy

(Bloomberg) — The UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive who was fatally shot in New York on Wednesday morning had no personal security detail, a situation that could prompt rapid changes within the company’s boardrooms, especially as the global political environment becomes more under unstable circumstances.

Brian Thompson, 50, was shot in the back and leg outside the Hilton Hotel in downtown New York, where the largest U.S. insurance company was hosting an investor day. Authorities said the shooting was a targeted attack. New York Police Department Detective Joseph Kenney said at a news conference that Thompson arrived at the hotel alone without security.

UnitedHealth executives did not receive benefits specifically related to personal safety or protection, according to the company’s 2024 and 2023 proxy statements. That’s in stark contrast to companies like Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc., which allocate millions of dollars each year to protect their CEOs.

Under SEC rules, public companies must identify their spending on certain benefits, such as security services, if they exceed $10,000 in a given year. Other large insurance companies, such as Humana Inc. and Cigna Group, list personal security as one of the benefits they offer executives, but their regulatory filings don’t specify how much they spend protecting senior leaders.

From 2021 to 2023, the median payout for S&P 500 companies that disclose spending on security perks doubled to nearly $100,000, according to analysis by Equilar, an executive compensation data provider. Equilar found that during the same period, the share of companies saying they provided security for at least one executive rose slightly, from 23.5% to 27.6%.

Glen Kucera, president of Allied Universal’s enhanced protection services unit, said some companies don’t invest in executive protection services because they think it might actually draw unnecessary attention. The company provides armed guards, canine units and other security services to New York’s World Trade Center, the U.S. State Department and professional baseball teams.

“Some people don’t want to get into trouble, some don’t want the exposure, some don’t feel it’s necessary,” Kucera said in an interview. “Some people don’t feel like they’re a controversial figure. [Thompson] Probably also thought he was safe. Unfortunately he is not. ”

ExxonMobil has provided its executives with full-time security guards for more than 30 years and required them to use company aircraft for all business and personal travel to protect them from kidnapping or other attacks. The policy was prompted by the 1992 kidnapping of Sidney Reso, then head of ExxonMobil’s international operations, outside his home in Morristown, New Jersey. Reso was shot in the arm during the kidnapping and was held in a locker for four days before his death.

Exxon spent more than $377,000 on security for Chairman and CEO Darren Woods in 2023, including nearly $300,000 for residential security and more than $41,000 for personal travel-related security. Exxon Mobil said in a filing disclosing the spending that it “does not consider such spending” [personal] Security costs are considered personal benefits because they arise from the nature of the company’s employment of workers. ”

The only UnitedHealth policy related to the executive’s personal safety is a requirement that CEO Andrew Witty use company aircraft for all business travel. It also encouraged him to use it for all personal travel rather than commercial flights, although he did not use it for such flights in 2023, the company said in its proxy statement. The guidelines do not apply to Thompson, who is chief executive of the company’s UnitedHealthcare unit.

The alleged shooter remained at large as of noon Wednesday, and the NYPD said the investigation was ongoing.

Kucera, who lives in Manhattan, said he was flooded with calls Wednesday about his company’s services, which include protecting corporate executives and celebrities and detecting explosives, guns and drugs.

“Some people who didn’t feel they needed administrative protection in the past now feel they should be protected in light of this incident,” he said.

Spending on executive benefits such as security has raised concerns among proxy advisory firms. Institutional Shareholder Services said that “excessive perks may indicate more troubling underlying compensation plan design features.” However, ISS acknowledged that “if demand for increased security persists, we believe companies will continue to Home Security Benefits for CEOs.”

–With assistance from Dylan Sloan and Joe Carroll.

(Updated with additional background in Part II.)

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