UnitedHealth sued by shareholders over concealing fallout of CEO's murder
UnitedHealth Group is being sued by a cohort of shareholders who allege the company hid the impact of the murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of its insurance wing, on the overall financial stability of the business.
Further, the shareholders claim the company buried a long-standing corporate directive to deny medical care, pivoting from that strategy after Thompson was killed, despite it being a core driver of profits.
In a lawsuit filed in a New York federal court on Wednesday, the group said they’ve been damaged by the company’s "materially false and misleading" guidance, which was the basis of many investors purchasing stock after December 2024, around the time Thompson died.
The financial guidance for 2025—published just prior to Thompson being shot outside a hotel in Manhattan—is at the center of the claim, with the shareholders saying its prospectus is no longer aligned with UnitedHealth’s current business practices, as it quietly changed course following the murder.
However, the healthcare giant has continued to stand by the projection, despite it being false, the shareholders allege. If the company was no longer willing to use “the aggressive, anti-consumer tactics that it would need to achieve” its target rise in earnings, then UnitedHealth was being deceptive in sticking by its prospectus, the group argues in the lawsuit.
“As such, the company was deliberately reckless in doubling down on its previously issued guidance,” the plaintiffs added.
Q1 earnings fail to impress
In April, UnitedHealth missed its earnings target. While the rising cost of care was a contributing factor, the plaintiffs believe a covert change from its policy of denying claims—often through the prior authorization process of Medicare Advantage—was a factor in the stock price failing to meet stated goals.
The shareholders, basing their investment on the stated expectations of leadership, feel the company deceived them with its lack of transparency.
“As a result of defendants’ wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in the market value of the company’s securities, plaintiff and other class members have suffered significant losses and damages,” they said.
UnitedHealth, in statements to the media, has dismissed any allegations of wrongdoing and said it intends to defend itself in court. HealthExec reached out to its media contact for a statement and will update this story with any response we receive.
Its stock sits at roughly $385 a share, down 23% on the year.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.