UnitedHealthcare executive's secret boast after CEO Brian Thompson's assassination
The boss of UnitedHealthcare has bragged to executives that the insurer is on track for record profits after CEO Brian Thompson's murder, it has been claimed.
Andrew Witty, who is CEO of parent group UnitedHealth, is said to have made the boast to his fellow bosses during a recent meeting, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Revenue for the year up to the end of September hit $299 billion, an increase of $22 million in a year, with an even larger number now forecast to round-off 2024.
British-born Witty's revelation comes less than a month after the December 4 shooting murder of Thompson, 50, on the streets of Manhattan.
Ivy League grad Luigi Mangione, 26, has been charged with the murder, which also triggered a tidal wave of outrage over UnitedHealth's alleged greed and focus on profits over patients.
The parent company's stocks have tanked 16.19 percent over the last month in the wake of the shooting, with December 4 marking the start of the decline.
But UnitedHealth bosses are said to be very bullish for the future and expect a boost to the stock price when the latest results are announced.
'The environment we find ourselves in is a complex one, not one that was ever designed by anybody,' Witty, 60, said on a December 23 call for anxious staffers.
UnitedHealthcare is on track to hit financial records by the end of the year, the CEO of its parent company Andrew Witty told executives, according to the Wall Street Journal
Mangione is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson at point-blank range
The fatal shooting of Brian Thompson on December 4 allegedly by Ivy League grad Luigi Mangione sent shockwaves through the country - and the equity market
'Right now, people continue to have strong feelings inside the organization, maybe nervous, maybe anxious, maybe worried about security,' he added.
On the same day, Mangione, 26, pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges over the shooting of Witty's right-hand man and father-of-two Thompson, 50.
Former staff say they used to be proud of working for Witty.
Inna Sarkisyan, a former auditor of 12 years at UnitedHealthcare, said: 'I adored him.'
She said she grew skeptical earlier this year about whether his praise for employees was genuine.
'He had mentioned the quality standards, how quality affects everything. His investors, if they see a lot of mistakes, they won't trust him, and he has to make them happy,' she said.
'That's what got me, even though he was the one that used to talk about how it takes a village.'
DailyMail.com has contacted UnitedHealthcare Group for comment.
UnitedHealthcare, one of America's biggest companies with a market capitalization of $465 billion, provides health insurance, approves drugs for patients, and employs tens of thousands of doctors and nurses in the US.
Ivy League engineering graduate Mangione was arrested on December 9 over the killing of Thompson, moments after eating a hash brown in an Altoona, PA McDonald's. He was later charged with murder as an act of terrorism.
Cops closed in on the alleged killer after an employee at the restaurant recognized him from surveillance images NYPD shared online in the wake of the Midtown Manhattan shooting.
Ivy League engineering graduate Luigi Mangione was arrested on December 9 moments after eating a hash brown in an Altoona, PA McDonald's. He was later hit with terrorism charges
He was later charged with second-degree murder over the slaying of Thompson, 50, just before 7am on Wednesday outside the Hilton hotel where the exec had been set to make a speech to finance heavyweights later that day.
Mangione led police on a 280-mile manhunt from New York City's 6th Avenue to the small Pennsylvania city of Altoona, around 100 miles east of Pittsburgh.
The gunman left a trail of overt clues about his motive, including ammunition etched with the words 'delay' 'deny' and 'depose' and a bag of Monopoly board game money in his backpack left in Central Park.
Officials believe the bullet etchings refer to the 'three Ds of insurance' - tactics used by American insurance giants to reject patients' claims.
This motive appeared to be even more clearly outlined in a handwritten manifesto cops seized from Mangione during his arrest.
'To the Feds, I'll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country,' the three-page document read.
'To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn't working with anyone.'
'I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done,' the document adds. 'Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.'
The accused assassin is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn ahead of his next court appearance
Mangione also allegedly had a ghost gun believed to be the rare World War Two era-inspired 9mm pistol used in Thompson's murder, which the New York Post reported was a Swiss-made Brugger & Thomet VP9, and a silencer.
During his first public words since his arrest in Pennsylvania, Mangione emerged from a patrol car shouting about an 'insult to the intelligence of the American people' while sheriff´s deputies pushed him into a courthouse.
There´s no indication Mangione was ever insured by UnitedHealthcare.
The killing has nonetheless prompted widespread speculation about whether he had a bad personal experience with the health care system.
The accused assassin is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn ahead of his next court appearance.
