A screenshot of a job posting went viral after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered Wednesday in New York City. The job posting was for the same position that Brian Thompson held — the CEO of the company. Brian Thompson’s murder emerged as a major reckoning point for the healthcare industry as a section of people cheered for the killing as they called it the poetic justice Thompson met after denying insurance payout to thousands of people — becoming their reason for death. Amid this confused rage on social media, this fake post went viral trying to portray UnitedHealthcare in a bad light that they were already looking for a new CEO.
“Definition of take care of yourself because that job will replace you no matter what,” a top comment to the viral TikTok post read.
The listing says the job is located in Minnetonka, Minnesota and is a full-time and remote position with an annual salary of between $300,000 to $450,000. According to the screenshot shown in the video, more than 100 applications for the role had already been received.
Fact-checking site Snopes.com called the screenshot fake and the claim unverified as there was no job posting on Linkedin. It was also pointed out that the compensation mentioned in the viral screenshot is much less than what Brian Thompsoin was getting. Thompson had an annual pay package of $10.2 million—including salary, bonus and stock options awards, according to The Associated Press. And the CEO post is rarely advertised for filling.
The UnitedHealthcare website removed Brian Thompson’s name and bio from it after the murder. Many other health insurance companies did the same as the murder seemed like a targeted killing out of a personal vendetta.
UnitedHealth Group issued a statement mourning the death of Brian Thompson. “Our hearts go out to Brian’s family and all who were close to him,” the company’s statement said.
