Summary
Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot in a premeditated attack outside the New York Hilton Midtown before speaking at an investor conference.
The gunman, still at large, fired multiple times, leaving shell casings marked with the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose.”
Authorities suggest Thompson was targeted but remain unclear on the motive. His wife confirmed prior threats against him.
Analysts speculate a possible vendetta tied to his company. The case raises questions about executive security, as Thompson lacked personal protection despite known risks.
I’m not defending anyone. I’m saying that it’s disgusting to wish death upon someone else. I’m calling you out for being a horrible human for thinking such a thing.
Tell me how “by their very nature and existence” a “billionaire” bleeds people dry for every dollar they can. Just a general thought would be fine.
Then tell me how this applies to the person this entire topic is related to - the guy who was worth less than $50 million.
I know billionaires who have built hospitals, created organizations to help child cancer patients, donated millions to public schools, created organizations to get homes for the homeless; just to mention a few things.
If you want to roll with “billionaires shouldn’t exist”, you have to look at what we would lose if they were gone and how we would replace them. Should we tax the wealthy enough so government is run more efficiently? What agency in what level of government is going to organize the creation of the things we’ve lost? Does our government have the will or knowhow to create such programs? How are you going to tax “billionaires” who don’t have billions of dollars of liquidity?
I hate to use the guy as an example but look at Musk. Do we need electric cars, reusable space rockets, residential batteries, satellite internet? Could someone else have done it? How long would it have taken NASA to get where SpaceX has? How do you start a car company if you don’t have the collateral to back it up? Heck, even Trump built his empire on the lie that he was a billionaire (not that casinos are worthy of this conversation).
Elon musk didn’t build a reusable rocket. The people he underpays and overworks did. Case closed. Thanks for proving the point.
How much are they being underpaid and overworked?
See here’s the thing. Your trying to bait into a numbers game. I’m telling you the numbers game inherently by its nature underpays it’s workers. There can’t be a billionaire without the workers producing billions that they don’t get back. As for overworked, it’s Elon god damn musk. Famous for overworking his employees, especially his migrant workers who depend on his employment for their visas. Talk about not understanding how money and business works.
You’re telling me something that sounds like an uninformed opinion. Do you have numbers or are you getting your news from TikTok?
Here. Lemme not be pedantic for 5 seconds and im going to ask simple questions and expect simple answers.
A worker works in a widget factory and makes a widget. Turning some raw material into the widget. At the end of the day, is the worker paid the value he produced, meaning minus the raw material cost because obviously.
Are you asking if a worker is paid 100% of the profit made from a single thing?
I would certainly hope not. A business has countless more expenses outside the cost of the worker to make the widget. The worker may very well be the cheapest overhead for the production of that widget. After things like rent, electric, taxes, waste disposal, maintenance, the cost of raw materials, the salaries of the entire company, etc., I would hope that a manufacturing company would retain as much profit as possible to ensure the business could stay open, employing staff without laying them off, even during a time of slow sales.
Now, if that “widget” were something like software, or a CGI artist, I would like to think that ratio would be nearly reversed. Aside from computer hardware, you’re paying that worker for their raw talent, education, and expertise with little other overhead for that department aside from management.
Mhm and after paying cost of materials, rent, taxes, electric, waste disposal, maintenance and other operational employees required for the procurement and sale of that widget, is the worker ever paid for the value of that widget minus those things? No, because at the end there is a lil goblin on top sucking the excess profit. Not for the good of the business, not for future savings and preparedness for slower times. Just a guy who said “I make dis salary”. Or in a corporation its a gaggle of goblins. Tell me, what work does jeff bezos do to deserve his salary? what did this united CEO do that earned him his wage that justified what he took from his workers. That money has to come from somewhere and thats part of the excess profit. In short, You missed somethin in your list of things the company has to pay for. The goblin skimming off the top.
ooohh. You were so close. Then you went and make up a fictitious story for which you have no evidence of. Where are you getting this idea that someone is just sucking up money?
The money these people make are agreed upon by the board of directors and the shareholders. Some make money by way of a paycheck and some by stocks options. The UHC guy was making $20 million a year. Is that ridiculous? I dunno. I’ve never run a health insurance company. Did he bring $20 million of value to the company? Maybe.
It’s not about the effort someone puts in, it’s the value they generate. I can tell you that I put in very little effort in my job but the value I offer the company is significant. If you go to school and spend hundreds of thousands on a degree, the value you present the company, presumably, is more significant than the value someone without an education brings.
What’s not given enough attention is the peacocking among CEOs. I think a large portion of their salaries is just to be competitive with other businesses in the same industry. This CEO makes $X, this one makes $X+. This is part of a resume that gives their next employer a place to work from. That’s insider business based on bullshit.
I won’t begin to defend the staggering amount of money Bezos is still making while not working at Amazon. However, he’s doing good things with the money he has. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos#Philanthropy
But, I get your point. We shouldn’t have people in this world so wealthy that they can donate $100 Million to food banks. You think there’s a version of this world where that $100 million wouldn’t be needed because the billionaires are sucking it up off the top.
I love the idea of this utopia. I’ve yet to hear a compelling argument about how to achieve this. I’d like to think we start with fixing the media and elections. Assuming we get the child of FDR and Bernie Sanders in office, what next? How do you convince the people that amassing personal wealth without sticky Uncle Sam fingers is bad? How do you convince these Unites States that a rising tide lifts all ships? Is it a bullet flying in the wrong direction or are we on a pendulum?