Fake “wanted” posters appeared on the streets of New York this week—not for the suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, but for Thompson himself and other health insurance leaders.
The unidentified person or group behind the posters had X-ed out Thompson’s face, suggesting a partially completed hit list. The message was clear: “Health care CEOs should not feel safe,” the text read.
The fliers were a startling manifestation of the online vitriol aimed at CEOs across industries and sectors since Thompson’s shooting on Dec. 4. Social media posts celebrating or joking about his death have put chief executives on edge as they try to process the brazen shooting.
The biggest fear is that the hatred expressed in social media posts about Thompson—and glorification of 26-year-old shooting suspect Luigi Mangione—will lead to copycat attacks, says Bill George, a former Medtronic CEO and executive fellow at Harvard Business School. “People are in disbelief that they would be making this kid into a hero,” he told Fortune.
Attending a conference for CEOs in New York this week, just blocks away from the site of the shooting, George found that many were shaken and deeply concerned by the reaction to Thompson’s killing. “They’re having plenty of meetings right now to discuss beefing up security,” he said of the business leaders, even as some question how much security coverage is enough. People are asking themselves, “‘What does that say about our society? Where’s our society going?’” George said.
Fortune reached out to dozens of CEOs this week to get a sense of how they’re reacting to this moment. The majority declined to comment. We are quoting anonymously those who did respond, to allow them the freedom to give us their most candid answers. These have been edited for length and clarity. Some have previously been reported by Fortune.
Personal responses to the killing
— “The disconnect between public perception and personal humanity has been striking, with some commentary bordering on dehumanizing. This highlights the critical need to humanize leadership and address the pressures faced in high-visibility roles.”
— “My challenge is keeping employees engaged. How do you maintain a sense of purpose if you think your customers hate you?”
— “I have to wonder if the demonization of corporate America and the wealthy over the last four years planted a mind virus in the assassin’s mind.”
— “If you walk by the place where it happened, it’s business as usual, which gives me some perspective. This was a random killing by a mentally ill person. Let’s not turn a tragic incident into a trend. Most people don’t hate CEOs. They don’t care about CEOs. They have bigger issues to care about.”
On making changes to their security protocols
— “It’s hard to be aware of your surroundings. Everyone is looking at you, and you are not looking at them. You need that second set of eyes and someone who’s scanning the room for risks as you’re scanning it for customers, employees, and other people you want to meet.”
— “I sometimes get a bit annoyed at having security with me. It feels like a bit much. I mean, who would want to attack me? But I see the value in it. Being protected is part of the job.”
— “You’re never stopping anyone who wants to get to you.”
On the role of business in society
— “When I was growing up, CEOs didn’t make millions more than everyone else in the company. I think we have to reflect on why there’s so much anger and do something about it.”
— “I don’t think you could be a CEO and not have threats against your life, if you’re going through bankruptcy or have to reduce labor … There are people in Congress who want to ‘stick it to corporate America.’ Well, corporate America is made up of hardworking Americans who do their best to reward the investors, and many times those investors are pension funds.”
— “I think we’re living through very seriously dangerous times where we’re normalizing antisocial behavior and normalizing violence on both extremes—on the far right, and on the far left. We basically moved, over the last 10 to 12 years, to a world that I don’t recognize. It’s very scary … I do understand that there’s enormous amounts of injustice and that we need to bring everybody along, and there’s a lot of things that we do, but I don’t think revolution is the answer to solving problems.” (a former CEO)
On the media
— “Journalists look for heroes and villains; life is not that simple. Why is the killer getting 10 times as much press as the person who was killed?”
—Diane Brady, Lila MacLellan, Kristin Stoller, and Jane Thier contributed to reporting.
