Image of job listing for UnitedHealthcare CEO after NYC shooting is fake | Fact check
The claim: Image shows UnitedHealthcare job listing for new CEO
A Dec. 5 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) includes an image that appears to show a LinkedIn job listing for a CEO for UnitedHealthcare with a salary range of $300,000 to $450,000.
“That was quick,” reads the caption on the post.
It was liked nearly 15,000 times in five days. Other versions of the claim spread widely on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and X.
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The image is fabricated. No such job posting appears on UnitedHealthcare’s LinkedIn page or website, and a company spokesperson said the listing was "fake." The listed salary range is also far below what the CEO compensation would be.
Thompson made more than $10 million in 2023
UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, Brian Thompson, was fatally shot in Midtown Manhattan on Dec. 4. Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a well-known Maryland family, was arrested in Pennsylvania several days later and charged in Thompson’s murder.
But there’s no evidence UnitedHealthcare posted a job listing to hire Thompson’s replacement immediately after the shooting.
No such listing appears on the company’s LinkedIn page or website. There are also no credible news reports corroborating the authenticity of the job listing.
UnitedHealthcare spokesperson Anthony Marusic also told Paste BN the listing was "fake."
The salary range in the supposed listing also falls far below Thompson’s compensation. His total compensation was more than $10.2 million in 2023, including $1 million in base salary, according to UnitedHealth Group’s 2024 proxy statement.
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Paste BN previously debunked a false claim that the suspect in the shooting was identified as “Samuel H. Ide.”
Paste BN reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive responses.
Snopes and PolitiFact also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources
- UnitedHealth Group, accessed Dec. 10, 2024 Proxy Statement
- Anthony Marusic, Dec. 9, Email exchange with Paste BN
- UnitedHealthcare, accessed Dec. 9, LinkedIn job search
- UnitedHealth Group, accessed Dec. 9, Careers
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This story was updated to add additional information.