UnitedHealth Group revealed on Monday that it spent $1.7 million in 2024 on security for top executives. This was months after the December shooting death of senior executive Brian Thompson in front of a Manhattan hotel.
It said that the company paid an additional $207,931 to certain family members for personal and home security.
UnitedHealth had not disclosed security expenditures in its previous annual reports. This shows how the December shooting has prompted companies to reassess their risk of targeted violence.
Last month, US drugmakers Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly increased their spending on security in 2024 for their top executives.
UnitedHealth stated in the filing, “We believe these security services are appropriate and necessary, given the risks associated with executive officer positions within the company.”
Brian Thompson, former CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s insurance unit UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot on December 4th outside a Midtown Manhattan Hotel where the company held an investor conference.
UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty received a total of $26.3 million in compensation from the filing, up from $23.5 million one year earlier.
The conglomerate paid $150,951 for Witty’s safety and $926,989 for Heather Cianfrocco as CEO of Optum, the company’s unit that provides health services.
After Thompson’s death, insurance companies removed photos of their executives from their corporate websites. Organisers of a San Francisco healthcare conference increased security inside and outside for attendees in January.
According to filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in the past, pharmaceutical and healthcare companies typically paid for the use of private planes and offered limited compensation related to security.