UnitedHealthcare’s market value has dropped $41.6 billion in less than a week, after CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in New York City on Dec. 4. The USA’s largest health insurance company, after a modest increase to its share price on Tuesday, is now worth $520.1 billion.
The $41.6 billion drop is equivalent to a 7.8% dip in its share price since the shooting. UnitedHealthcare’s shares are up 4.8% since the start of 2024, even after the recent stock drop.
CNN reported on Tuesday that last week’s 10% dip for the company was UnitedHealthcare’s worst week on Wall Street since the 2020 COVID pandemic.
Shooting suspect Luigi Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania and charged in New York City with second degree murder on Monday, after he was spotted by a McDonald’s patron in Pennsylvania. The 26-year-old is a University of Pennsylvania graduate who, according to a review of his X account, was critical of how staples of modern culture, including Netflix and online porn, were affecting society. He also shared a distaste for “wokeism” and showed an affinity for health and wellness on his account, among other topics he touched on. Mangione reportedly had “debilitating” back pain and went “radio silent” on his friends in the months leading up to the shooting.
A handwritten note — what has widely been labeled a manifesto — found by the police who arrested Mangione said “these parasites had it coming.”
The killing of Thompson led to a number of top health insurance companies removing public information about their executives. Some people used the murder as an opportunity to discuss the decisions made by major insurance companies like UnitedHealthcare, while others publicly celebrated the shooter.
Notably, ex-Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz got into a heated argument with Piers Morgan on Monday, after Lorenz said she felt “joy” following Thompson’s death.
Mangione was denied bail by a Pennsylvania court on Tuesday and is now fighting extradition to New York, according to CNN.
