On Wednesday, I spoke with many CEOs at a leadership conference of 250 prominent business leaders, elected officials, and public policy experts at a highly visible site just 50 steps from the spot where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered. Thompson’s killing in cold blood on Dec. 4 as he was en route to an investor meeting at the Hilton Hotel in New York has sent a chill through American CEOs. The fact that the alleged killer, Luigi Mangione, had never met Thompson and was not a customer of UnitedHealthcare made the assassination even more alarming.
I am especially shocked at the large numbers of young people calling the killer a “hero.” An Emerson College poll released on Dec. 18 showed that 41% of young people ages 18-29 say that Thompson’s murder was “acceptable” or “somewhat acceptable.” Shortly after the killing, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said, “The suspect here is a coward, not a hero. In America, we do not kill people in cold blood to resolve policy differences or express a viewpoint.”
